Realmark agents are seeing dozens of people through home opens, while its property managers are sorting through stacks of applications for a record low volume of available rental properties.
While new stock coming onto the market is nearing its five-year average, demand to enter the relatively affordable WA property market is extreme, bringing challenges to anyone looking to relocate or invest.
Realmark founder and managing director John Percudani spoke to 6PR’s Money News and offered advice to those facing those challenges.
“For sellers, I think it's very important to ensure that you're well informed around what's happening in your particular market sector, and you take on some strong advice from somebody who knows it very well,” he said.
“The other thing is to adopt the approach of making a smart sale and not a fast sale.
“When a property comes to the market in the current environment, it's more than likely going to sell. There's almost a 100 per cent clearance rate at the moment. So, in that regard, you know you don't want to be selling your property at the first time open or to the first offer.
“What you want is an agent that's going to manage the marketing exposure for you in a very methodical way, so ultimately, you attract not just one offer but multiple offers and therefore can assess that you're not just getting a sale of a property - but you're ensuring you don't undersell.
“At Realmark, we're very focused on not just getting a sale and bragging about it but making sure the buyer is treated fairly and that the seller is getting the best possible result out of the current market positions.”
While interest rate rises are biting at the lower end of the market, Realmark agents have observed that, across the bulk of the market, prices remain elevated despite the increased cost of money.
Mr Percudani also acknowledged the competitive nature of the rental market, and provided some tips to applicants to help their name stand out from the rest.
“Renters are still in a very competitive marketplace and our property managers are kept busy making sure they're giving all applicants fair consideration and being empathetic to them,” he said.
“The advice we give tenants is to making sure they put their best foot forward is to profile yourself, because ultimately, it’s not just coming down to rental judgments, landlords and property managers are looking at the quality of the tenant.
“Submit references in in relation to yourself. Employment references, previous landlord references or property management references. Even if you've got a pet, having a reference for your pet.
“It’s all going to help you get up in the pecking order in terms of that assessment, because these property managers are looking not one or two applications for a tenancy there's get 10s of applications.”
With favourable underlying economic conditions continuing in Perth and regional WA, the competitive nature of the current market cycle seems likely to remain for at least the short to medium term.