REA Report – Western Australian Market: Data & Insights Report
On behalf of REA Group we are pleased to share the release of the latest ‘Western Australian Market: Data & Insights Report’ to our UDIA WA members. Produced exclusively for our members, this essential market resource includes:
- Overview of the State of the National, State and Greater Perth housing markets;
- Outlook for Supply and Demand for FY 2026 and beyond;
- Exclusive buyer preferences insights from REA group’s customised consumer survey program;
- Update of quarterly change in volumes of listings and leads for new residential products by size (including land, house and apartments), as well as median pricing across all product types at close of June Quarter 2025. This bespoke and unique assembly of market performance across all new for sale residential product types is provided across all metropolitan and regional locations within this very useful resource.
Members are encouraged to reach out to UDIA WA Head of Research, Toby Adams directly to request a copy of the Report, courtesy of REA Group.
An insightful lunch with Saul Eslake
We were delighted to host guests at our final Industry Lunch for 2025 on Friday 31 October for an insightful presentation from Independent Economist Saul Eslake examining ten global megatrends and their impact on Australia’s economy and housing market.
We were also pleased to acknowledge Kasia Majewski as the recipient of the UDIA WA & Stockland Young Leaders Award following this year’s Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner. It was great to hear directly from Kasia on what the award means to her, and how she plans to move forward in her career and as a mentor for other young professionals.
Saul’s presentation examined the effects that slowing population, productivity and economic growth was having around the world against the backdrop of shifting political ideologies and trade relations – including a shift in global investment away from the US dollar toward gold and the Swiss franc as a reflection of rising global uncertainty.
In this broader context, Saul guided attendees through Australia’s trade relationship with China – highlighting that Australia has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of China’s emergence as the world’s biggest importer of minerals and exporter of manufactured goods.
Further honing into our national economy, Saul pointed out that Australia has managed to get inflation down more successfully than the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand at less cost in terms of economic activity and unemployment. Underscoring the importance of this accomplishment, Saul highlighted that Australian households are very sensitive to movements in interest rates due to the high household debt-to-income ratio.
Reflected in rising trends across consumer sentiment, housing finance commitments and sales volumes, and ‘effective’ demand for housing is starting to pick up in response to the decline in interest rates. As we are well aware across industry, housing supply is responding slowly to the increases in demand with new demand far outpacing net new supply.
Saul highlighted that one of the primary challenges limiting housing supply is the productivity decline in the construction industry – falling to less than 500 dwellings completed per 1,000 employed in the building industry. While cost pressures have eased, some pressure persists for apartment construction, highlighting the need for enabling supply-side measures to meet the need for housing.
WA is currently sitting in second place behind Victoria in terms of housing delivery, on track to deliver 80% of government targets for new supply.
Thank you to our Energy & Innovation Partner Western Power and Event Sponsors Mirvac and Wormall Civil for their support of this event.
Regional Housing Support Fund launched
Recently launched by the State Government, applications are now open for the Regional Housing Support Fund (RHSF) and close at 5pm Friday 19 December 2025.
Administered by the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage, the $25 million fund is designed to support the development of key worker housing, community housing and residential subdivisions through the provision of grants up to $5 million to local governments, community housing providers and developers, in an aim to boost housing and land development across regional Western Australia.
To be eligible for funding, projects must:
- Be located within, or in the vicinity of, an existing regional centre, townsite or community within regional WA, excluding the Perth and Peel metropolitan region.
- Propose the delivery of three or more dwellings and/or the delivery of three or more residential lots. For dwellings, this can be across multiple lots if the delivery is undertaken as a single package. For subdivision, the proposed lots must be on a single contiguous site.
- Demonstrate the timely delivery of one or more of the following outcomes:
- New self-contained housing for affordable purchase or lease by key workers, located within a reasonable vicinity to employment locations, amenities and services.
- Community housing accommodation situated within regional centres or townsites.
- New serviced lots for residential dwellings.
Applications close 5pm, 19 December 2025.
For more information, and to apply, visit the WA Government website.
UDIA WA joins the 2025 Walk for Reconciliation
The UDIA WA team, along with our RAP Chair Jane Bennett, were delighted to attend the rescheduled 2025 Walk for Reconciliation and participate in the Walk of Truth and Healing around Galup (Lake Monger) on Thursday 30 October.
Continuing the 2025 National Reconciliation Week theme, “Bridging Now to Next”, Elders welcomed attendees to Country and shared the moving stories behind this year’s walk location and the process behind the renaming of Lake Monger to the Traditional Noongar name – Galup, before we embarked on the 3.5km walk in solidarity.
This was a fantastic opportunity for the team to learn more about the community and cultural heritage at Galup, and for UDIA WA to represent our dedication to the reconciliation journey.
Find out more about the Galup Project at the City of Vincent Library
More homes, better cities: Letting more people live where they want
This week, the Grattan Institute released the report More homes, better cities: Letting more people live where they want, advocating for zoning regulations to permit three-storey townhouses and apartments on residential land in capital cities across Australia to help meet housing demand.
The report also advocates for housing developments of six storeys or more to be allowed as-of-right around major transit hubs and key commercial centres.
Highlighting that Australian capitals are among the least densely populated cities globally, the report suggests by changing zoning of land within 30km of the city centres to permit three-storey townhouses and apartments will help relieve housing prices across the suburbs by increasing housing choice closer to offices, transport, schools and other amenities.
Modelling by the Institute suggests that these reforms could lift housing construction across Australia by up to 67,000 homes a year.
Town of Mosman Park Local Planning Policy Review
The Town of Mosman Park are seeking industry feedback on proposed changes to two Local Planning Policies: Proposed Local Planning Policy 43 Scheme Amendment 12 – Urban Greening – Tree Preservation on Private Property; and Proposed Local Planning Policy 46 Scheme Amendment 13 – Parking.
Currently open for consultation, the Proposed Local Planning Policy 43 Scheme Amendment 12 – Urban Greening – Tree Preservation on Private Property aims to strengthen protections for mature trees and encourage growing the urban canopy throughout the Town of Mosman Park.
The Proposed Local Planning Policy 46 Scheme Amendment 13 – Parking aims to simplify the management of parking provisions – removing the current provisions from the Town’s Local Planning Scheme, embedding them into a Local Planning Policy.
Consultation for the Proposed Local Planning Policy 43 Scheme Amendment 12 – Urban Greening – Tree Preservation on Private Property closes on December 2, 2025.
Consultation for the Proposed Local Planning Policy 46 Scheme Amendment 13 – Parking closes on December 9, 2025.
For more information, view the Proposed Local Planning Policy 46 Scheme Amendment 13 – Parking.
Invitation for public comment on draft Local Planning Policy
The City of Swan are inviting public comment on the draft Local Planning Policy POL-LP-1.15 – Native Fauna Management (The Draft Policy). Consultation is currently open and will close Sunday 16 November at 5pm.
The Draft Policy amends POL-LP-1.15 – Kangaroo Management to include native fauna. Key changes to the policy include:
- replacing the word “kangaroo” with the term “native fauna”
- inserting a clause to avoid duplication with existing legislative requirements
- minor grammatical changes
For more information, visit the City of Swan’s website or reach out to Christopher Jennings via email at strategicplanningservice@swan.wa.gov.au
Submissions can be made online via Swan Engage on or before 5pm Sunday 16 November.
Trees to Trade
UDIA WA recently attended Trees to Trades, an event run by Timber Insight in partnership with Wood Solutions that focused on WA’s Timber Opportunity, showcasing timber as one of the most sustainable solutions to our housing needs.
The event saw presentations from a variety of speakers, including UDIA WA members Wesbeam and a case study from Northerly Group on the work they have been doing at Stockland’s Nara project in Beaconsfield.
The event provided several insights from across the timber industry supply chain and laid the foundations for the next steps to ensure continued growth in the diversity of housing product and typologies.
Following the popularity of this event, Timber Insight and Wood Solutions have organised a special guided tour that will take participants on a journey through Western Australia’s South West to explore the future of sustainable construction and regional development. This full day guided experience will connect the entire timber supply chain from renewable plantations to state of the art processing facilities and innovative building projects. If you’d like to attend this event or if you are keen to find out more, head to the Seeding the Future event booking page.
Timber Insight are also conducting a survey to better understand property and land developer perspectives on timber frame construction in Perth’s residential market and are offering the chance to win a Nintendo Switch 2. Simply head to the survey page to find out more and complete the survey to be in with a chance to win the big prize. Survey closes at 5pm on Thursday 11 December.