Realmark Karratha Director and Licensee Jordan James said his firm had placed nine properties under offer in the first 14 days of February.
“We’ve certainly seen an increase in the number of buyers enquiring on properties and walking through our opens for inspections over the last month, and the results we are seeing now are just a testament to those changes,” he said.
Hedland First National Principal and Licensee Morag Lowe said she had seen demand for properties increase in February after hesitancy in early January.
“Buyers took stock, especially in trying to determine what the COVID-19 plan was to be for the Pilbara and whether or not the local economic activity would be negatively affected going forward,” she said.
“Now that buyers have determined it’s going to be business as usual, in February we had around 20 properties under offer with a 50/50 split between owner-occupiers and investors.”
Mr James said rising rents in Karratha over the last six to 12 months had seen local people entering the market to escape the trap of paying rent.
“The consensus in our market is that projects such as Woodside’s Pluto Train 2 are going to create a surge in demand for property in the rental market,” he said.
“As a by-product of that demand, we see more people deciding that buying a property is cheaper than renting and, thus, creating a lot of competition for established homes.
“There is a portion of buyers who are relocating from out of the area, however many buyers are already local and, in a lot of cases, the company they work for is offering incentive for them to go and buy a home to live in.
“I do suspect the number of buyers purchasing sight unseen will increase in the second half of 2022, as the market will be moving quickly and there will be an element of urgency for most people trying to secure a property.”
Ms Lowe said investor interest in Port Hedland was traditionally east coast based, with the trend continuing.
“Entry into this market is more affordable than in any of the east coast markets, with superior returns around nine to 12 per cent,” she said. “However, our rental vacancy rate remains at an all-time low, so people are moving to town.
“People relocating to town for work are more motivated to purchase than in recent years, even if they are only living here for a few years.
“This is reflective of the stage in the cycle we are in, where the market is below replacement cost and significant capital gain has been possible.”
Mr James believes there is confidence in the Karratha property market now and longer term, subject to the potential impact of COVID-19 and Western Australia’s hard border reopening.
“For a while we have seen consistent levels of buyer enquiry and some phenomenal auction results in the last 12 months,” he said.
“With the prospect of major construction projects on our doorstep and a rental shortage, it’s only a matter of time before investors re-enter the market and look to capitalise on favourable rental returns and capital growth.”
In Port Hedland, Ms Lowe said any continued growth in the property market depended on the demand for Pilbara resources such as iron ore.
“Port Hedland is not a mining town per se, but a port, rail and transport activity hub,” she said.
“Assuming that all the billions spent on exploration over the past couple of years translates into product that requires transporting to and shipping from Hedland, I would expect significant real estate demand in both sales and rentals to continue.”
Lucy Rutherford
The West Australian
Mon, 7 March 2022 12:00AM