Perth residential hitting turbulent air: HTW

Six to nine months of upside in the Perth residential property market has seen multiple offers on homes, properties staying on the market for only two or three days, and a low number of listings.

Well, that can’t - and it shouldn’t - last forever, according to Herron Todd White's latest residential update.

‘’That’s because property isn’t a frequently traded commodity. It’s not a share. It’s a place where families are sheltered and business is conducted and things are produced.

‘’Yet some people treat property with the same expectation as a Wesfarmers or Telstra share. They expect it to always go up and to provide a dividend along the way.

‘’They get very disappointed if there is talk that it will lose value. Some people get panicky about property and try to grab it and take control. Not letting reality sink in. These people are called investors.

‘’Others just see property for what it is, accept it and are not too worried or fussed about talk of market slowdowns or dips. They are called owner-occupiers or tenants.

‘’At the end of the day, property is not a share. It’s not an aeroplane either. It’s a thing that sits on a piece of dirt and has walls and a roof on it. As long as the piece of dirt is relatively clean and the roof doesn’t leak, all sorts of magic can happen from property.

‘’Sometimes babies are produced in them; at other times nice widgets are made in them and sold to other people.

‘’The residential sector in Western Australia is seeing a rate of take up unprecedented for many years which is now beginning to show signs of hitting turbulent air.’’