The Perth property market just delivered a mixed set of results, and if you’re planning to buy, sell, or lease in the coming weeks, the latest figures from REIWA are well worth understanding. According to REIWA member data for the week ending 16 August 2026, sales activity across the Perth property market slowed noticeably, even as the number of homes available for sale continued to climb.
For anyone tracking the Perth property market closely — whether you’re a homeowner weighing up whether now is the right time to list, or a buyer trying to read the tea leaves on pricing — this snapshot offers a timely check-in on where things stand. Below, we break down the numbers suburb by suburb, sector by sector, and explain what they could mean for you.
Sales Activity Drops Across the Perth Property Market
The headline figure from this week’s Perth property market update is a 20.4 per cent fall in total sales transactions compared to the previous week. REIWA members reported 605 transactions across the week, a meaningful pullback after a stronger run in previous weeks.
Breaking that figure down by property type paints a fuller picture of where the softness in the Perth property market is concentrated.
House, Unit and Land Sales Breakdown
| Property Type | Weekly Change |
|---|---|
| House sales | Down 16.0% |
| Unit sales | Down 6.6% |
| Land sales | Down 80.0% |
Land sales bore the brunt of the slowdown, falling a dramatic 80 per cent on the week prior. While a single week of land sales data can swing sharply given the smaller number of transactions involved, house sales — which make up the bulk of Perth property market activity — also eased by 16 per cent, a more telling signal of a broader pause in buyer activity.
Unit sales held up comparatively well, dipping just 6.6 per cent, suggesting apartment and villa buyers in the Perth property market were less deterred than house hunters during the week.
Top Performing Suburbs for Sales
Even with the overall dip, several Perth suburbs continued to see solid buyer demand. Baldivis led the way as the standout performer in this week’s Perth property market figures.
| Rank | Suburb | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baldivis | 14 |
| 2 | Forrestfield | 10 |
| 3 | Rockingham | 10 |
| 4 | Bayswater | 9 |
| 5 | Dianella | 9 |
Baldivis has been a consistently strong performer in the southern corridor of the Perth property market, and its position atop this week’s sales leaderboard reflects ongoing demand for family-sized homes in the area. Forrestfield and Rockingham weren’t far behind, both recording 10 sales for the week, while inner-northern suburbs Bayswater and Dianella rounded out the top five with 9 sales apiece.
Perth Property Market Price Extremes: The Vines vs Wembley
Every week, the Perth property market throws up a wide spread between its highest and lowest recorded sale prices, and this week was no exception.
| Suburb | Sale Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest sale | The Vines | $1,700,000 |
| Lowest sale | Wembley | $565,000 |
The Vines, a leafy suburb in Perth’s Swan Valley region known for its golf course estate and larger acreage-style lots, recorded the week’s top sale at $1.7 million. At the other end of the spectrum, a property in Wembley — an inner-western suburb typically associated with higher price points — changed hands for $565,000, a reminder that even sought-after pockets of the Perth property market can produce more affordable outliers depending on the property type, size, or condition.
This spread illustrates just how varied the Perth property market can be from one suburb to the next, and even within the same suburb. It’s one of the reasons a tailored, suburb-specific appraisal matters so much more than relying on broad median price figures.
The Vines sits within the City of Swan, roughly 30 kilometres north-east of the Perth CBD, and has long attracted buyers seeking larger blocks, resort-style amenities and a quieter, semi-rural lifestyle without straying too far from the city. Wembley, by contrast, is one of the western suburbs’ most established and tightly held pockets, close to Lake Monger and only a short drive from the coast — its lower-priced result this week is more a reflection of the individual property than the suburb’s typical price range, which usually sits well above the citywide median.
Comparisons like this are a useful reminder that headline “highest” and “lowest” figures reported each week don’t tell the whole story. Property type, land size, condition, and even the specific street can shift a result dramatically. Anyone using a single sale price to judge a suburb’s overall value is likely to draw the wrong conclusion.
Listings on the Rise: What It Means for the Perth Property Market
While sales slowed, the supply side of the Perth property market kept expanding. There were 7,076 properties for sale across Perth at the end of last week, up 3.3 per cent on the week before.
Property Listings Data
| Listing Type | Weekly Change |
|---|---|
| House listings | Up 2.9% |
| Unit listings | Up 3.6% |
| Vacant land listings | Up 5.3% |
Every category of stock increased over the week, with vacant land listings growing the fastest at 5.3 per cent. This continues a longer-running trend: total listings across the Perth property market are now 8.7 per cent higher than four weeks ago, and a substantial 123.4 per cent higher than the same time last year.
That year-on-year jump is significant. It tells us the Perth property market has moved a long way from the extremely tight stock levels of the past couple of years, giving buyers noticeably more choice than they’ve had in some time. For sellers, it also means competition for buyer attention is increasing, which makes presentation, pricing strategy, and marketing more important than ever.
Perth’s Rental Market Tightens Even as Listings Fall
It isn’t only the sales side of the Perth property market worth watching — the rental sector told a very different story last week. There were 2,116 properties for rent in Perth at the end of the week, down 6.7 per cent on the week prior.
Rental listings were also down 5.1 per cent compared to four weeks ago, and 8.5 per cent lower than the same week a year earlier. For renters, that continued tightening in available stock is likely to keep competition for good rental properties strong across much of the Perth property market.
Top Rental Suburbs
| Rank | Suburb | Rental Listings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baldivis | 25 |
| 2 | East Perth | 22 |
| 3 | Perth | 15 |
| 4 | Alkimos | 15 |
| 5 | Lakelands | 14 |
Baldivis again topped the charts, this time for rental listings, reinforcing its status as one of the busiest corners of the Perth property market right now across both sales and rentals. East Perth and the CBD itself (Perth) also featured prominently, alongside the northern coastal suburb of Alkimos and the southern suburb of Lakelands.
Leasing Activity Surges
Despite fewer properties available to rent, leasing activity jumped sharply. REIWA members reported 742 properties leased last week — up 47.8 per cent on the previous week, 19.1 per cent higher than four weeks ago, and 10.7 per cent higher than the same week last year.
That combination of falling stock and surging leasing activity is a clear signal that rental demand remains robust, even as some pressure eases on the sales side.
For tenants currently searching, this data points to a fairly straightforward reality: good rental properties in well-located suburbs are being snapped up quickly. Suburbs like Baldivis, East Perth and Alkimos are seeing the highest volumes of new listings, but with leasing activity running well ahead of the same period last year, those listings aren’t likely to stay on the market for long. Acting quickly, having paperwork ready, and being flexible on inspection times can make a real difference in a competitive rental environment like this one.
For landlords, the numbers make an equally strong case for reviewing your rent and lease terms against current demand. An investment property that hasn’t been reappraised in the last six to twelve months may well be under-rented compared to what the current market will support.
How Perth Compares to the Broader WA Property Market
It’s worth remembering that the capital city numbers reported here sit within a much larger Western Australian property market. Perth accounts for the significant majority of the state’s property transactions, but conditions can vary meaningfully between the metro area and regional WA centres such as Bunbury, Mandurah and the Goldfields.
Within the metro area itself, the mix of results this week — a pullback in sales activity, rising listings, and standout performers like Baldivis — reflects a market that is rebalancing rather than one that is broadly slowing or overheating. Different corridors of Perth are moving at different speeds, which is exactly why suburb-level detail matters more than a single citywide figure.
What These Trends Mean for Perth Property Market Sellers and Buyers
So what should you take from this week’s numbers if you’re actively engaged with the Perth property market?
For sellers, the rise in listings is worth paying close attention to. With 123.4 per cent more stock on the market than this time last year, homes need to work harder to stand out. A well-priced, well-presented property with a clear marketing strategy is more important now than it has been in some time.
For buyers, more choice in the Perth property market is good news. A slower week of sales, paired with rising stock levels, can translate into more negotiating room and less pressure to rush a decision — though popular suburbs like Baldivis, Forrestfield and Rockingham show that well-located, well-priced homes are still moving quickly.
For landlords and renters, the rental side of the Perth property market tells a different story entirely. Falling listings combined with a big jump in leasing activity point to continued strong demand for rental accommodation, particularly in suburbs like Baldivis, East Perth and Alkimos.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Perth Property Market
Is now a good time to sell in the Perth property market? With total listings up 123.4 per cent on a year ago, sellers are facing more competition for buyer attention than they have in some time. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad time to sell — well-presented, correctly priced homes in in-demand suburbs are still selling — but it does mean preparation and pricing strategy matter more than ever.
Why did land sales fall so sharply this week? An 80 per cent weekly drop sounds dramatic, but land sales typically involve a much smaller number of transactions than house or unit sales, so the percentage change can swing widely from week to week. It’s worth watching this figure over several weeks rather than reacting to a single result.
Which Perth suburbs are performing best right now? Based on this week’s figures, Baldivis, Forrestfield, Rockingham, Bayswater and Dianella led the way for sales, while Baldivis, East Perth, Perth, Alkimos and Lakelands topped the rental listings tally. Performance can shift from week to week, so it’s worth tracking trends over a longer period for a clearer picture.
Should renters be worried about the drop in rental listings? Falling rental stock combined with rising leasing activity does mean more competition for tenants. Renters searching in popular suburbs should be prepared to move quickly, have references and paperwork ready, and consider a slightly wider search area if they’re finding limited options.
Holdsworth Real Estate’s Take on the Current Perth Property Market
Weekly snapshots like this one are useful, but they’re just one piece of the puzzle. At Holdsworth Real Estate, we look at this data alongside longer-term trends, suburb-level history, and what we’re seeing on the ground with our own buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords.
Right now, the Perth property market is behaving very differently depending on where you look. Some suburbs, like Baldivis, are firing on all cylinders across both sales and rentals. Others are seeing more measured activity as buyers take a little more time to weigh up their options amid rising stock levels.
If you’re trying to work out what any of this means for your own property, the safest approach is to get a current, suburb-specific read rather than relying on citywide averages alone.
Thinking of Selling or Leasing? Let’s Talk
If you’ve been watching the Perth property market and wondering how these trends might affect the value of your home or investment property, now is a great time for a conversation. Whether you’re considering listing in a suburb like Baldivis, Forrestfield or Dianella, or you’re a landlord curious about current rental demand, the team at Holdsworth Real Estate can provide a current, tailored appraisal based on what’s actually happening in your street and suburb — not just citywide averages. Get in touch with Holdsworth Real Estate today to find out where your property sits in today’s market.
