Every month I sit down to record the market update and think, this month will be different. And then it isn't. Because no matter what's happening in Canberra, no matter what's being announced in a Federal Budget, the story for Perth property keeps coming back to the same thing: we don't have enough homes.
This past week the whole industry went down the Budget rabbit hole — myself included. Once the dust settled though, the picture was pretty familiar.
The government's focus is on encouraging more housing construction, particularly in outer suburban growth corridors. In principle, that's not a bad thing. We do need more homes. The problem is that we're already struggling to keep pace with existing demand. Encouraging more people into the new-build pipeline without meaningfully increasing building capacity — trades, materials, land approvals — feels like a significant gap in the plan.
Here's where it gets particularly relevant for our patch of Perth. Measures that slow new investors entering the established market don't magically create more homes in Claremont, Cottesloe, Nedlands, or Swanbourne. People don't suddenly want to live somewhere different.
What's more likely to happen is that fewer landlords enter the established market over time, which puts further upward pressure on rents in the areas where people most want to live and rent long term. Less supply of rental properties, same or growing demand — you don't need to be an economist to see where that goes.
Markets adapt. They always do. People move further out, share accommodation, or compromise on space and location. But population growth doesn't pause while we sort out policy, and people still need somewhere to live.
Which is why, until supply catches up in a meaningful way, Perth property — especially in established, well-located suburbs — remains a fundamentally undersupplied market. That's not a sales pitch. It's just the reality of where we are right now.
As always, if you want to talk through what any of this means for your property or your plans, I'm always happy to chat.
— Jamie Harrington
Watch my full video below . . .