Existing high property prices in the Goldfields-Esperance region continued to rise in the latter half of 2022, with the region’s rental vacancy rate at 0.5 per cent, according to the latest statistics.
The Goldfields-Esperance Development Commission released its housing and land summary on May 26, which found the rental market remained “exceptionally tight” during the second half of 2022.
The report stated median rents surged by 15.6 per cent throughout the year, reaching a record high of $480 per week in the fourth quarter.
“Over a five-year period, weekly rents increased by 54.8 per cent. The limited supply of rental properties and fast rising rents continue to present challenges for current and prospective residents,” the report said.
“In addition, there are many communities in the region that do not have a formal rental market and rely on State Government-provided social housing and government officers accommodation. There is a need to expand provision of such housing to support vulnerable populations and essential workers in the region.”
With the region recording 36 vacant residential land sales in the latter half of the year, it indicated that land sales activity had decreased after reaching 95 sales in the second half of 2020.
“This, in part, reflects the lack of supply of vacant land to sell and constrained lot availability. Existing land tenure and mining tenements have limited the number of lots available for residential development,” the report said.
“Furthermore, elevated infrastructure costs, availability of labour and materials and low property values has delayed the development of residential land. Development costs in the region was recorded as 30-50 per cent higher than Perth metropolitan rates.”
In Kalgoorlie-Boulder, house prices experienced a slight increase in 2022, with the median price of vacant residential land selling for 33 per cent more in between July and December compared to January to June.
“Over a third of dwellings in Kalgoorlie-Boulder are rented, indicating a strong rental market. Land supply for vacant lots is very limited with some larger subdivisions experiencing prolonged delays,” the report said.
Esperance was said to experience a slowdown in buyer activity after two years of large numbers of transactions, and showed a 0.2 per cent vacancy rate at the end of December 2022.
“The Esperance rental market continued to exhibit exceptional tightness, presenting ongoing availability and affordability challenges. The median rent price in Esperance decreased by 3.5 per cent to $352 a week over the year to December 2022,” GEDC staff wrote.
In Coolgardie, house prices reached the highest level since 2014 in the latter half of 2022, with house prices having grown by 85 per cent in the past three years.
Within the Shire of Dundas, median house prices reached the highest level in a decade, with a 150 per cent increase over 2022.
“Due to its small market and reliance on cyclical mining activity, median prices in the Shire of Dundas are subject to significant fluctuations in a given year or half year period,” the report said.
The Northern Goldfields also experienced an increase in median house prices compared to 2021.
“These localities face a number of challenges due to the remote nature of town sites, with service provision and adequate staffing issues being experienced. Sufficient service provision is compounded by issues around the availability and quality of Government Regional Officer Housing and social housing in the area, with stakeholders citing these as barriers to attracting and retaining residents and workers,” the report said.