All the key indicators suggest that the Perth boom is past its peak and subsiding.

Our analysis of all the major market jurisdictions across Australia, using a range of different performance metrics, indicates that Perth will not be the leading performer on price growth in 2025 – or anything close to it.

After two consecutive years as the national leader on price growth, we feel confident in predicting that Perth is unlikely to repeat that performance in 2025.

Perth was undoubtedly the national leader on price growth in 2023. Its median house price rose 16 percent (the national average was 8.6 percent) and its median unit price increased 12 percent (national average was 6.4 percent).

In 2024 Perth repeated the performance, leading on both house prices (up 17 percent) and unit prices (up 19 percent), both more than three times national averages – but challenged in both categories by Brisbane and Adelaide.

But it was evident in the latter part of the year that the rate of growth for Perth was slowing month by month. Earlier in 2024, the annual growth rate for houses was well above 20 percent. With each passing month, the annual growth rate is smaller, although it still appears to be impressive.

And, indeed, there is a growing list of forward indicators which say Perth is on the wane.

Perhaps most significant is that sales activity has declined, even though stock on the market has risen steadily since the middle of 2024. In this regard, Perth is the weakest of the major cities and regional markets, with activity steadily waning.

Vacancy rates are also easing and rents are no longer rising rapidly. Indeed, according to the REIWA, there has been little rental growth in Perth since March 2024. With so many investor purchases in the past 2-3 years, rental supply has risen – changing the supply-demand equation.

Other sources indicate a slowdown in population growth and less demand from investors. The buyer frenzy is subsiding, which is confirmed by our conversations with real estate professionals at the coalface of the Perth market.

For those still interested in buying in the Perth market, a key trend is that more buyers are pivoting to attached dwellings.

One of the main catalysts for the Perth boom of recent years was its cheap houses, but now the city's median house price is similar to Melbourne and Adelaide. The relative bargains are now being found in the unit market and there are a number of good options there.

But home buyers and investors considering the Perth market need to be aware that the peak of the market has passed and the stellar price growth of 2023 and 2024 is unlikely to be repeated.