The national median property price is now $765,762, which is another new nominal high.

Western Australia remains the stand out, with Perth prices gaining another 1.8% through the month and the rest of the state rose 1%.

Queensland and South Australia were the other strong performers, Brisbane and Adelaide rising 0.9% and 1.1% respectively, while the regional areas of these states also made solid gains (1.1% for regional SA, 1% for regional Queensland).

Tim Lawless, Research Director at CoreLogic, says "comparatively lower housing prices and positive demographic factors" in all three states is driving housing demand.

After small declines at the back end of 2023, Sydney (up 0.5%) and Melbourne (up 0.1%) also recorded positive price growth, with Hobart the only capital where prices declined through February.

Mr Lawless said it's possible Australia is seeing the early stages of a "boost to housing confidence", as it looks increasingly likely rate cuts will begin before the end of this year.

However, he also warned "downside factors" would continue to work against property price growth for at least the next few months.

"Affordability constraints, rising unemployment, a slowdown in the rate of household savings and a cautious lending environment, are all factors likely to keep a lid on value growth over the near term," he said.

Can anything slow WA?

Since July last year, both houses and units in Greater Perth have seen values go up by at least 1% each month.

Dwelling prices in Perth are now 23.9% higher than in February '23, with nine SA3 areas seeing more than 20% annual growth.

Southern Perth in particular is seeing extraordinary growth, boasting the top four performers in Armadale (up 28.6% through the year), Rockingham, Gosnells (both up 25.1%) and Kwinana (up 22.5%).

Regional Western Australia is also seeing huge demand, with Bunbury and Albany seeing the biggest growth to property prices of any Significant Urban Area in Australia over the three months to January '24.

The most recent ABS migration figures show Western Australia is the state with the fastest growing population, with a 3.1% increase over the year to June '23.

Job opportunities in mining are likely a big pull, with WA holding up to 98% of the nations iron ore, Australia's biggest export.

However, the outlook for the sector have been tempered in recent weeks, with the price of iron ore seemingly in freefall since the start of the year.

On January 5, Iron Ore was selling for $141.45 USD per tonne, but as of February 28, this had fallen to just $125.84, an 11% decline.

There are serious concerns about the struggles of the Chinese economy, where much of the demand for iron ore comes from, as well as the forthcoming Simandou mine in Africa, which is potentially a huge competitor.

For now, WA property continues to boom, but it remains to be seen if this can continue should there be a slowdown in its biggest industry.

Read more: Perth suburbs to watch in 2024

Picture by Tom Rumble on Unsplash



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