Property owners and investors in Perth are still suffering as prices remain in the doldrums.
In a commentary on the Motley Fool Australia, industry watcher Steve Holland said for many investors in the West, the Great Aussie Dream has suddenly become the Great Aussie Nightmare.
"I was speaking with a friend recently and he said he had to drop the price of his rental property from $450 a week to $350 a week to keep the tenants in the apartment," he said, "Another person told me that, sadly, they took out a hefty loan when the price was high and are now struggling to make interest-only payments on what has proven, in the short-term at least, [to be] a depreciating asset."
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Holland said should big banks started to raise rates, things could suddenly go from grim to worse.
Citing data from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, he noted that the number of properties up for grabs in the Perth metropolitan area reached 13,535 in the week leading up to 25 February 2015, a big jump from the 9,207 available in the same period in the preceding year.
The figures as of November 21 showed that the number of listed properties went up to 14,973.
"While this may benefit companies in the real estate advertising business, it’s not great news for those trying to sell property in Perth," Holland said.
Additionally, the median house price in Pert has declined by more than 8% since 2015 and the average selling days for a property has jumped from 50 days to around 70 days.
"As such, the question has moved from: ‘When will Perth’s property market crash? [to] ‘How low can it go?'," Holland said.
Collections: Mortgage News
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