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Geraldton house prices rocket 21.5 per cent in 12 months

Lisa FavazzoGeraldton Guardian
Geraldton suburb Sunset Beach
Camera IconGeraldton suburb Sunset Beach Credit: Supplied

Geraldton house prices shot up 21.5 per cent in the past year thanks to ongoing demand from owner-occupiers and some investors at the lower end of the market.

Real Estate Institute of WA data shows the June quarter median house price for Geraldton was $322,000, a rise of 3.9 per cent from the March quarter. The big annual jump is positive for homeowners, although prices are still falling a few points short of historical highs seen last decade.

Geraldton Property Team sales executive David Potiuch expects prices to continue their upward trend despite the hundreds of new builds popping up on empty lots across town.

Speaking to the Geraldton Guardian earlier this month, local builders said they expected more than 200 new homes to reach lock-up stage in the next 12 months.

Mr Potiuch welcomed the fresh supply and said it would not curb the upward price trend.

“Demand is just going to keep rising,” he said.

Mr Potiuch said owner-occupiers were driving the trend, which had been the case in Geraldton since prices started rising last year.

However, he said he was getting three or four calls a week from east coast investors looking to buy properties under $150,000. REIWA data reflects this, showing traditional underperforming suburbs like Rangeway and Spalding are becoming more expensive. Rangeway’s median house price has had the second most significant rise in WA, jumping 56 per cent from $72,500 to $113,000 in the last year.

Some data hints at a slight market cool-down, and Mr Potiuch said he saw this on the ground.

Geraldton is one of a handful of regional centres where rental vacancies are growing — up 0.5 per cent last month — while median sales times are getting longer, up from 37 days to 39 in the quarter.

Mr Potiuch said the market had been “taken off the boil a little”, but it was still a great time to buy.

“I still think there is more growth in the market,” he said.

“It’s pretty exciting getting your own property for buyers.”

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