Forrestfield 
Make no mistake about it, one day the current real estate ‘boom’ will end, guaranteed!
All real estate booms eventually end. The last boom of 2004/06 stopped, so too the previous one of 1987/89, they all finished, and so too will this current one.
And they all begin similarly – a reduction in the number of properties being offered for sale. A realisation by agents, homeowners, and the media, that something had changed. Fewer properties being offered for sale, agents altered their marketing strategies, prices began increasing, and buyers began making higher and higher offers. Prices keep increasing; a degree of ‘panic’ sets in.
A boom cycle begins….
Similarly, when the market changed, quite similar factors occurred.
There was a rise in the number of properties being offered for sale, buyers had a greater choice of properties. They chose the one that best suited their needs rather than just ‘buying anything’. They became more price conscious, avoiding those properties they believed were “too high”.
Some agents and homeowners kept pricing properties as though nothing had changed. Many of these properties began to take longer and longer to eventually sell, many did not.
More properties were offered for sale, perhaps fear that the market might fall began to creep in. The market eventually had a substantial number of properties on offer for sale and buyers had a greater selection of properties to consider.
The boom began to slow as more properties on the market failed to sell, and agents and owners had to amend their pricing strategies and offer properties at lower prices in order to attract buyers….
Prices began to fall and then “normalise”.
But will this scenario occur again? Only time will tell, but what is apparent today is that there are more and more properties being offered for sale.
A recent report to Members of the Real Estate Institute of WA from CEO Cath Hart said;
“The median time to sell a house in Perth has risen to 13 days in November, up from the nine days recorded for most of 2024.
Median days on market had been rising for the past few months and the change reflected the increase in the number of listings for sale over the same timeframe.
New listings are at their highest level in three years and this is giving buyers more options than they’ve had for some time.
Our members report buyers are taking a little more time in their purchasing decisions. As a result, homes are taking slightly longer to sell, however Perth remains a seller’s market.
Homes in Perth are selling in around two weeks now which is still incredibly fast – by comparison, pre-COVID the median time to sell was more than 40 days.”
A real estate boom is a fickle thing, however it is never sustainable, and it will eventually come to an end. Perhaps this current change is the beginning, only time will tell.
