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Low stock, high prices: How can investors still reap benefits from the Perth market?
In The Smart Property Investment Show, Liam Garman and WHITEARCH director and licensee Ashby Farrell shared how investors can still find opportunities in Perth’s record listing shortage.
Perth-based agent Farrell said that while the city’s landscape continues to change rapidly, investors can still profit by selling their investments, turning to high-yield rental markets, or buying in city-fringe suburbs for long-term gains.
Over the past few years, Perth has been a booming market, with Domain data showing that house prices in 50 suburbs have doubled in the past five years, while investor activity has grown by 10 per cent in 2025.
Due to the hype, Farrell said Perth listings have shrunk, with the market currently seeing around 2,500 properties for sale.
Meanwhile, the lack of stock has pushed competition higher, with dwellings being sold in just eight or nine days.
City-fringe suburbs present opportunities
Amid the current boom, Farrell said that investors wanting to buy in Perth still have opportunities in the city fringe, such as areas 10 kilometres from the city.
He said that during a market boom, buyers often spent money on properties about 40 minutes from the city, but these often fell harder during a downturn.
“The further out you are, the earlier you're going to get hit with the downturn.”
In addition to buying on the edge of the city, he said investors should stick to older suburbs that had not yet been gentrified, so they could maximise their chances of long-term capital growth.
He said that gentrified properties should also be on lots that could be subdivided, so investors can maximise their returns in the future.
“We are going to, as a city, have to start to look towards some more subdivision; we can't just keep urban sprawling everything.”
In addition, Farrell encouraged investors to find positively geared properties to make a profit, despite the rapid growth rate making these harder to find.
“They're definitely still out there, so I would look for those.”
“I would kind of go backwards and say, well, if the rents went back 20 per cent, 30 per cent, can I still carry it, or do I still want to carry it?”
High yield on the horizon
While some opportunities have emerged on the city’s outskirts, Farrell said that investors who want to remain in more central locations could invest in high-yield rental properties, as first home buyer demand has been drying out the rental pool.
“We might sell one of our rentals, and then a first-time buyer is coming along and using the scheme and buying that and moving in. So we're losing the rental,” Farrell said.
The lack of rental availability has driven rental yield growth, with Cotality data showing that, for the period ending October 2025, the median yield for houses was 4.3 per cent, while units were at 5.7 per cent.
However, Farrell said investors wanting to buy in the Perth market should consider assets that offer immediate high yields.
“When we're talking about our apartments that we're trying to cash flow and things like that, if it’s not a good investment straight away, maybe take a second look.”
“There will still be capital growth, but you want to be able to obviously pay for that with the rental yields if you can.”
Time to sell?
While buying extra assets can be a strategy in the Perth market, Farrell said the price growth fuelled by the listing shortage presented an opportunity for investors to cash out on their investment properties this year.
Cotality’s latest Home Value Index showed Perth’s median dwelling value rose 2 per cent over January to $980,302.
Perth has also joined the million-dollar club for houses, with a median price of $1,087,762.
Farrell said that if investors sold their investment properties, they could go to owner-occupiers who were hesitant to sell due to the low stock, temporarily balancing the market.
“I think they'll cash out, and I think those properties will be sold to owner occupiers. And we'll probably end up running this same cycle a few times over until we can actually build some extra property,” he concluded.
Listen to the full episode here