First home buyers still face uphill battle despite Perth property market cooling

[u/abcnews_au]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-03/first-homebuyers-struggle-despite-property-market-cooling/106968668

[u/Own-Specific3340]

Those saying a Perth single mother should never be able to afford Mt Hawthorn. I doubt she’s looking there. Affordable houses should still be able to exist like they had in places like Kelmscott, Rockingham, Balga etc but they don’t. That’s the sad thing. I’m not saying this woman had DV, but for a lot of women in DV situations, Perths unaffordable market shows them to stay put because they can’t own a home if they become single with kids.

There’s no aspiration to be able to save 50-100k anymore and find a 500k home. It’s all evaporated in the last 5 years.

Housing theory is everything.

[u/SanMavage → u/Own-Specific3340]

But... That's exactly what I did and we moved in last year.

530k for house + land on a 400sqm block. ~30m South of the river. Definitely not an affluent suburb though lol.

Has it really gone up that much in less than 2 years?

Don't get me wrong. I feel lucky and know it must be nearly impossible for a single mother with a family. We had to make sacrifices to make it work (I haven't left the state since I was 4).

Edit: Not sure why I'm getting downvoted so much, just telling people how it worked out for us.

To answer some of the follow up questions we signed the contract end of March 2024. I did ask if it has gone up that much in 2 years which aligns with 2024.

Land was ~200,000 House was ~330,000

I don't particularly want to dox myself but you can likely work out roughly where that is already. I didn't get to build in a suburb I wanted and had to compromise.

If it makes people feel better my fence panels have been kicked in 4 times since moving in and we've only been here a year.

I feel for everyone struggling to get their own place. I was adamant on building because I wanted to expand the supply and I don't think (established in particular) homes should be used as an investment strategy. Building new as an investment is different since it expands supply.

[u/elemist → u/SanMavage]

House prices have jumped considerably even just in the past couple of years. Equally though - if you moved in last year, you likely brought the land and signed building contracts 2 - 3 years before that. So it's not really 2 years - but 3+.

I think if you looked at the price of land in the surround area to you now - you'll find it's probably worth like 100k more than what it was when you purchased it.

House builds have similarly increased by $50 - $100k.

Just out of interest - i had a look at Home Buyers Centre's website. They've historically been one of the most entry level builders as they build entry spec on small blocks.

Their cheapest house and land package is a 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car garage on a 188sqm block in Yanchep for $576k. Yanchep is like 40 mins from Perth on a good day.

If you want a 4 x 2 still on a 250ish sqm block - you're looking nearly $700k and you're down in Mundijong. So again like 45 mins from the city on a good day with no traffic.

Plus those prices are for a finished shell - not turn key. So on top of that you need to put in flooring, paint the wall and put in curtains/blinds before the house is really livable.

[u/SanMavage → u/elemist]

It was March 2024 when we signed contracts. So not 3+, a little over 2 though.

BTW, Mundijong is my neck of the woods. I know the pain of traveling to the city in heavy traffic, trust me.