The mortgage brokers at Smartline Rockingham like to keep on top of all changes to the real estate market. Though our area of expertise is home loans, anything that happens in Rockingham, Baldivis, Kwinana or anywhere in the Perth market as a whole is important to us. Ultimately, what affects Perth real estate affects the market here in the Rockingham area.

Survey Says…

The NAB Residential Property Survey for the March 2015 quarter showed that money is coming into the housing market from a surprise source: overseas buyers. Across Australia, foreign investors accounted for one out of seven new home sales or 15.6% of demand.

In Perth, 22% of property sales were to foreign investors looking to redevelop the properties. 51% of those purchases were apartments.

According to Shane Kempton, Chief Executive for WA Professionals, foreign investors tend to buy in inner city areas, particularly near colleges, where they can rent the units to their children if they come to Australia to study.

Other investors were buying adjacent blocks of land to create apartment developments. Many of the companies developing apartment communities are large firms that know a good investment when they see one.

Foreign investors like Western Australia and the Perth market because we represent safety and stability for their investments, as well as a lot of potential for capital growth. Beckingham and Midland, closer to the CBD, were the markets with the most foreign activity.

What it Means to You

We know that housing prices have stagnated a bit, but more investors and a growing Australia will create more demand for homes. We encourage small investors to see what foreign investment firms see in the Perth area: a great opportunity to make money in the long term.

Price and interest rates are going to rise soon. It might not happen this year, but we can’t imagine another year going by without the cost of buying a home rising sharply soon.

The bottom line: in the future, there will not be as good a time as now to buy your first investment property. To learn more, call Smartline Rockingham today: (08) 9527 1800.