Buyers turn to units as Perth housing market booms, REIWA data shows
Perth's unit market is tipped for stronger price growth than houses over the second half of 2025, with shifting buyer preferences reshaping demand in the WA capital.
Recent findings from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) have revealed that Perth’s median unit sale price is on track to achieve 15 per cent growth over the year, which would outpace the forecasted 10 per cent growth for houses in the Western Australian capital.
The institute’s data showed that median sale prices for Perth units recorded preliminary growth of 2.9 per cent over the June quarter of 2025, raising the city’s median unit price to a record high of $540,000.
While the median sale prices for Perth houses registered slightly lower growth of 1.4 per cent over the same period, the city’s median house price still rose to a new record high of $786,000.
REIWA president, Suzanne Brown, said median sale prices for Perth’s unit markets had long grown at a slower rate than the city’s houses, but have picked up speed over the past 12 months due to increased demand for affordable Perth properties.
“The strong rise in house prices has seen demand increase in the unit market, which offers more affordable alternatives to houses,” Brown said.
Brown said median sale price growth is highest for Perth’s medium density options such as villas, home units and townhouses, but noted that the city’s apartment markets have recorded softer price growth.
“Based on price growth as an indicator, demand for apartments has not been as strong, despite the scarcity of new apartment products,” she said.
Although Perth’s unit market has notched up considerable sale price growth over the first two quarters of 2025, Brown noted that buyers have still favoured lower-density properties.
“We know people like villas and townhouses; people often prefer to have their own courtyard and a garage next to their home,” Brown said.
“Home units are also attractive to home owners as they tend to be affordable and in lower-density developments.”
Brown said price growth is forecast for Greater Perth over the rest of 2025, but noted that the extent of growth will vary from suburb to suburb.
“For example, the Perth median house sale price rose 16.4 per cent over the year to June, but the top 10 performing suburbs all recorded annual growth over 28 per cent,” Brown said.
“In the unit market, the median sale price growth over the financial year was 20 per cent, while the top 10 performing suburbs saw growth over 32 per cent.”
While the institute forecast median house sale price growth for the majority of suburbs in regional Western Australia, Brown said the scale of growth will also differ from market to market.
“Based on current conditions, Albany and Geraldton are likely to be the top performers this year, with median house sale price growth in the range of 20 per cent, and potentially 25 per cent,” Brown said.
“Bunbury, Busselton and Karratha could achieve growth around 15 per cent, while growth in Broome, Esperance and Kalgoorlie is predicted to be between 2 and 5 per cent.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Brown said that the Port Hedland regional centre is “likely to record a decrease in its median house sale price over 2025”.
Looking at the rest of 2025, Brown said a number of evolving socioeconomic factors could impact the rate of price growth for property markets across Western Australia.
“Economic uncertainty as a result of the Trump tariffs remains an ongoing issue,” she said.
“The potential effect of the tariffs creates concern among the community, particularly in relation to employment security, and this in turn can affect buying and selling behaviour.”
Nevertheless, Brown said that further interest rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) could prove favourable for both buyers and sellers in the Western Australian market.
“We may see more activity if there are more interest rate cuts this year,” Brown said.
“This increases people’s borrowing capacity and could have an inflationary effect on prices, particularly in more affordable suburbs or for more affordable properties such as units,” she concluded.
[You may also be interested in - Older units set to lead Perth’s property surge]