Hot Topics – April 2016
Hot Topics – April 2016
This month’s article focuses on a key message I recently received whilst listening to a presentation by renowned demographer, Bernard Salt… Perth have faith!
So if you are presently suffering from a lack of confidence in the long term performance of the Perth property market then it is essential you read on.
Presently Perth has a population of approximately 2,300,000 and the government is planning for a city of 3,500,000. However ABS projections presented by Bernard Salt suggest we should be planning for a city of 4,600,000 by 2050…that’s right an extra 2,300,000 over the next 34 years! If you are thinking, yeah right our population is going backwards due to the slow-down in mining construction, think again.
Latest figures released in late March 2016 had WA still growing by 1.3% for the year, up 32,500, despite the slowdown in mining and therefore regional centres. To put that in context, in 2004 / 2005 our population grew by 24,700 and our property market was starting to fire. Sure we are not growing as quickly as we were but we are still growing quick enough.
Perth’s population growth is going to be driven largely by overseas migration and the reason people are moving to Perth is to take advantage of the lifestyle it offers.
Just to remind you about our great, evolving city:
- Perth is a major centre with a great lifestyle and climate, affordability and quality locations
- Perth is relatively affordable, especially when compared to the major East Coast cities
- Perth is the same time zone as the majority of Asia
- Perth serves as a service hub to the commodity markets
- Perth offers outstanding education and tourism markets
- Perth is continually ranked in the top 25 most liveable cities in the world and usually always ahead of all cities in Asia
All of the above key points do not take into consideration the effect the new hospitals, airport and transport links, city infrastructure, stadium and Scarborough foreshore redevelopment, etc. I’m 100% positive that each of the items mentioned is going to make Perth an even more desirable place for overseas migrants to call home and a reason for existing Perth residents to stay.
So why have faith in the Perth property market. The issue facing the property market at present is an increased amount of supply at a time when population growth has slowed and confidence has waned. It’s not that people can’t afford to buy property, it’s simply they are choosing not to… why not take advantage of this fact?
If you believe people like Bernard Salt and the Australian Bureau of statistics then Perth will double over the next 35 odd years. Bernard says, “Think about Perth today… are we going to build another Perth alongside the existing one or are we going to stick it on top…perhaps we will do a bit of both.”
At Celsius our philosophy has always been based on acquiring property within 15km’s of the city. This was affirmed by Bernard Salt who confirmed that the biggest market over the next few years will be in the 5km – 20km zone from the CBD and in particular in suburbs with good access to infrastructure and employment opportunities.
So whether you are an existing property Owner thinking of selling or a new Buyer thinking of holding off… my advice to you would be to have faith and you will be handsomely rewarded over the long term.
Kind regards
Richard Pappas