The property market in Western Australia in my opinion is a lot more robust than people think.
Now we all know it’s a “Buyers’ Market” and the reason we all know this is because the press has told us so and are predicting further falls in property prices. And because people generally believe what they read in the press they then act as if it has already happened – which makes it happen – but, be warned. Your luck can change in an instant just as it did when prices fell 20% in the GFC and bounded back up 15% overnight just a few months later.
Now, sure, the economy is a bit all over the place, and yes, there has been some job losses and true, the prices have come back on some properties from the height of the boom, but buyers…do not get too cocky. Don’t say things like “we will wait until they are desperate” or “we haven’t seen the worst of it yet” or “they’re dreaming, don’t they know it’s a Buyers’ Market?” Be careful, because it just may not happen.
Also take time to think about how you would feel if you were The Sellers in these circumstances. Generally (and yes, not always) properties are priced with the market in mind, so they have already been “discounted” back from boom prices. So it might be a “Buyers’ Market” – but it’s not a “Stealers” market.
The property market in Western Australia in my opinion is a lot more robust than people think. We are living in one of the most glorious places on earth and the population is growing, and any fluctuations in property prices is a perfectly normal event, just like fluctuations in the stock market.
The beauty about the property market is that if the market drops everyone is in the same boat – it’s not like just your shares fall, all properties drop so it’s quite easy to sell what you’ve got and buy what you want in any market and not lose anything – in fact if you are upgrading you are making money in a falling market! Then if you have investment properties you can cushion the blow with rental income that will keep you buoyant - can’t do that with shares!
So it’s in a falling market where the great profits can be made. So don’t be a sheep and follow everyone else, because the really smart buyers are buying now. They understand that prices are at the lowest they have been in 10 years and they don’t care if they drop a little bit more because they’ll come right back up again.
So let me tell you what I predict will happen. More and more buyers will cotton on to this fact and start buying, and then the sheep will all follow thinking “oh gosh, everybody is starting to buy so we better buy too!” So then they will buy, which will make the market turn, drive the prices up, and all those buyers who are waiting for The Sellers to get “desperate” will have missed the boat and will have to pay more.
So my advice is – forget about what the market is doing, or what it’s going to do and just look at the property, decide if you like it, and if you do, just go ahead and make an offer at what you consider a fair price, because when the market turns (and it will) the property that you really wanted may just not be there anymore, and even if it is, you might just have to pay a lot more for it. And if you’re an investor – make your move now – investors are coming back into the market despite rental prices being down at present, because they realise that things can only go up from here and they want to be right there when it happens.