Though Perth’s median house price has fallen to its lowest point in more than three years, two coastal suburbs have posted strong growth, according to Domain Group’s House Price Report: September Quarter 2016.

The first suburb is Lakelands—a sprawling new development north of Mandurah and 65 km south of the Perth central business district. Lakelands is the only metropolitan suburb to register a median price increase in the September quarter. “With good access to the freeway and the Perth-Mandurah train line, prices in Lakelands rose 10.1 percent in six months to $415,000, up 3.8 percent over a year,” Domain Group’s report said.  

The second suburb is Doubleview. First developed in the early 20th century, and named for its coastal views to the west and views over Darling Scrap to the east, Doubleview saw prices increase by 9% to $725,000 in six months, although the median has dropped 1.4% for the year.

Lakelands and Doubleview are “shining lights” in a Perth market that has been weakened by declining house prices.

According to Peter Peard, chief executive officer of Peard Real Estate, the lack of confidence in the WA economy was a key factor in the depressed Perth property market. “Sentiment is low in WA. When interest rates were cut, Melbourne and Sydney went nuts. But there wasn’t any movement here,” Peard said.

“It’s been a long, cold winter in Perth, which has been a bit of a drag. People don’t come out to open homes until it warms up,” he added.

On the upside, there have been positives in the depressed Perth property market, particularly in terms of value and investment opportunities. “People in Melbourne and Sydney should be coming to Perth to buy investment property at the moment,” he said. “There is some real bargain buying out there.”

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