ACTON's May Result Reflects Strong WA Market

14 Jun 2012 - Steven Cross from http://www.rebonline.com.au

New figures show the Western Australian property market continues to improve, with local real estate group ACTON reporting robust sales figures for May.

ACTON’s May sales were 14.04 per cent higher than sales in May 2011, and follows a 33 per cent on-year rise in sales in the March quarter, prompting managing director Graeme Baxter to suggest the market is recovering.

ACTON has around 20 offices in WA.

“One or two good months may be considered a lucky fluke, but we’ve had six consecutive months with strong sales and I genuinely believe we are seeing a recovery,” Mr Baxter said.

Despite the company's good news, Mr Baxter feels the market still remains pessimistic.

“There is still a lot of doom and gloom out there, people are very concerned about the European situation,” he said. “I think they should focus more on what’s happening in Australia and Western Australia in particular.”

ACTON’s results support the latest Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) figures, which also point towards an improving property market.

The data shows that sales over the months of April and May increased by 24 per cent when compared to the same period last year.

REIWA president David Airey said in late May that reported sales across metropolitan Perth were strong, with a total of 6,979 property sales between the end of March and late May.

“Prices seem to be holding steady, but there is no question that buyers are more active and there is growing consumer confidence in the property sector,” Mr Airey said. 

“Buyers are now more confident that market conditions are right. Prices stopped sliding over the last six months and there was modest growth in the March quarter,” Mr Airey concluded.