Perth Property Market Update March 2026: Prices Break $1 Million as Undersupply Drives Record Growth

Published 29 April 2026 · Follio Research · 4 min read

Perth’s property market has delivered another remarkable quarter, with the median house price breaking through $1 million for the first time in March 2026. Despite back-to-back interest rate rises, record-low consumer confidence, and rising fuel costs, Perth prices continue to climb at a pace that has no parallel among Australia’s major capital cities. Here is what the data shows.

Perth House Prices Rise 2.5% in March 2026

Perth recorded monthly price growth of 2.5% in March, building on February’s 2.3% result and January’s 2.4% gain. The median house price now sits at just over $1.009 million, having risen by nearly $69,000 in the first quarter of 2026 alone.

The 12-month rolling average of price growth has strengthened steadily through the quarter, rising from around 17% at the start of January to more than 24% by the beginning of April. This acceleration is not the product of a single strong month, it reflects the cumulative effect of sustained growth over an extended period, with each new month of strong results replacing a weaker month from the prior year in the rolling calculation.

Perth Housing Supply: Still Far From Balanced

The chronic undersupply of established dwellings remains the defining feature of Perth’s property market. Listings have increased from around 1,862 in early January to approximately 3,200 by late March, but a balanced market requires between 10,000 and 12,000 properties available for sale across the city.

Weekly sales have held steadily within the 800-900 range throughout the first quarter, meaning buyer demand continues to absorb a large share of available stock. The sales-to-listings ratio eased slightly to around 23% in early April, primarily due to a temporary dip over the Easter long weekend, but remains firmly within the elevated range that has characterised Perth’s seller’s market for well over a year.

Perth Rental Market: $730 Per Week and Rising

Perth’s median weekly rent has risen from $650 in mid-2024 to approximately $730 in March 2026, an increase of around 12% over 18 months. The vacancy rate currently sits at 2.2%, just below the 2.5% to 3.5% range generally considered consistent with a balanced rental market.

While vacancy rates have eased from the extreme tightness of 2024, rents have continued to trend higher. Strong population growth and limited new housing supply are keeping upward pressure on rents, even as conditions move closer to equilibrium. For investors, Perth’s rental market continues to offer strong and growing yields against a backdrop of capital growth that remains among the strongest in the country.

First Home Buyers and Investors: Competing at the Same Price Points

The expanded First Home Guarantee Scheme drove a near 10% increase in first home buyer loans in the December 2025 quarter, rising from 3,472 to 3,811. However, the average loan size jumped from $537,000 to $580,000 over the same period. Adjusting for underlying trends, around $25,000 of that increase appears directly linked to the policy change itself, exceeding the typical LMI saving of $20,000 and leaving many buyers worse off at the point of purchase.

The dynamic highlights a broader challenge in supply-constrained markets: demand-side policies tend to be capitalised into higher prices rather than improved affordability.

Investor activity has risen sharply in parallel, with average investor loan sizes now nearly identical to first home buyer loans. Both groups are competing for the same pool of established Perth properties at the same price points, adding a further layer of demand to an already undersupplied market.

Perth Property Market Outlook 2026: Momentum Intact, Affordability the Watch

The key question for Perth in 2026 is how long structural undersupply can continue to override the dampening effects of higher borrowing costs. So far, the answer has been: longer than most expected.

Mortgage costs have risen materially. A buyer purchasing at the median price in early January faced monthly repayments of around $4,510. By the end of March, the combined effect of higher prices and two rate rises had pushed that figure to approximately $5,100, a difference of nearly $600 per month. If rates rise further to 6.75% or 7.0% as some forecasts suggest, repayments could reach $5,620 to $5,790 by mid-year.

At some point, deteriorating affordability must begin to moderate growth. But with the supply deficit showing no signs of rapid resolution and population growth remaining positive, Perth’s property market continues to offer the most compelling fundamentals of any major Australian capital heading into the second half of 2026.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Source data: Cotality, REIWA, ABS, RBA.