Perth housing market update [video] | November 2025

Key takeaways

Perth is the National Growth Leader: Perth house values surged 1.9% in October, the highest growth in the country, pushing the median price above Adelaide's for the first time since 2018.

Extreme Supply Shortage: Advertised stock remains critically low, tracking 45% below the five-year average, which maintains powerful competition and drives prices up relentlessly.

Rate Cut Boost is Over: The outlook for further interest rate cuts has significantly diminished, meaning future growth will rely entirely on the current, severe supply-demand imbalance.

Another month has flown by, and once again, our sunny western capital, Perth, is making headlines. Based on the latest data from Cotality, the Perth property market didn't just participate in the national housing acceleration in October; it led the charge, continuing its impressive run as the nation's value growth powerhouse.

While the broader Australian home values picked up pace with a 1.1% gain—the fastest since June 2023—Perth cemented its status as the country's most vigorous market. Let's break down the key insights from October 2025.

The Perth Growth Engine

Perth's housing values surged by an outstanding 1.9% in October, a slight tick down from the 2.0% rise recorded in September, but still strong enough to outpace every other capital city and region in the country. This consistent, market-leading performance is purely a reflection of a fundamental imbalance: demand far outstripping available supply.

Note: This phenomenal growth placed Perth at the top of the leader board, not just among capital cities, but even beating out the strong results seen in regional areas.

Regional Western Australia itself posted an impressive rise of 1.8%.

Here is how the top growth areas stacked up in October 2025:

Source: Cotality, November 2025

The Million-Dollar Median Milestone (Almost!)

Thanks to the continued surge, Perth achieved a significant milestone in October. The monthly growth was enough to push Perth’s median house value to an estimated $926,464.

Note: Crucially, this figure means that Perth has now risen above Adelaide's median house value for the first time since July 2018. This is a powerful indicator of how quickly values are appreciating in the West.

Nationally, we are seeing the strongest gains concentrated in the middle and lower quartiles of the market, a trend likely driven by first-home buyers leveraging schemes like the expanded 5% deposit guarantee.

Supply Scarcity and Strong Demand Dynamics

The core reason for Perth's continued exceptional performance is the dramatic disconnect between listings and sales activity. The market remains heavily skewed in favour of vendors:

• Advertised Stock is Extremely Scarce: Advertised supply levels are tracking a staggering 45% below the 5-year average for this time of the year.
• Sales Activity Remains Robust: Our estimate of sales activity over the past three months is sitting 2.3% above the average levels.

In short, there simply aren't enough homes being listed to satisfy the current level of demand. This tight imbalance is what keeps pushing prices higher. New supply isn't helping either; dwelling commencements and completions are still well below their decade averages due to ongoing construction costs.

Here is a summary of Perth's critical supply/demand metrics for October:

Source: Cotality, November 2025

A Look Ahead: Headwinds and Tailwinds

While the supply/demand crunch remains the dominant force, there are moving parts influencing the outlook:

1. Interest Rates: The "inflation shock" in Q3 has caused banking economists to cease forecasting further rate cuts in 2025. With the cutting cycle potentially over, we won't see a material boost to borrowing capacity from that source.
2. Affordability and Sentiment: Severe affordability challenges and stubbornly low consumer sentiment, coupled with cost-of-living pressures, remain downside risks.
3. Investment Activity: Housing credit for investors is rising fast—the fastest pace since mid-2015. Should investment credit accelerate further, tighter lending policies may be introduced, potentially denting market demand from this key segment.

However, as long as advertised listings track at record lows and home sales remain resilient, the imbalance that is driving Perth’s value growth is likely to persist for a while yet.

About Tim Lawless Tim is Research Director at Cotality (formerly CoreLogic), analysing real estate markets, demographics and economic trends across Australia. Visit www.corelogic.com.au