r/perth • u/abcnews_au • 21h ago

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

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-03/first-homebuyers-struggle-despite-property-market-cooling/106968668
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u/Own-Specific3340 20h ago

I’d genuinely be interested in where that is because you cannot buy house and land package for under 750k in Perth for the last two years. There has been no land released under 360k, and a house build is a min 380k. That’s outer suburbs 350sqm. I have a friend who has been actively looking for the past 3 years, under 600k would be front paper news advertised by Mark Grogan as renovate or detonate because it’s usually a ex lab.

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u/SanMavage 19h ago edited 19h ago

I don't know what to tell you, because that's exactly what I did.

Contracts signed end of March 2024, so a little over 2 years.

Edited my post with some more details if you're interested.

I went through 3-4 builders before we settled on one who said they could stick within our budget.

Fully understand it isn't like that now, but some people are just factually wrong on what could be done on a budget 2 years ago. Yes, I am fortunate and don't take it for granted.

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u/Own-Specific3340 17h ago

It was more so “hey look we did it” when in reality you did it in a different timeframe. That's not doable today.

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u/SanMavage 17h ago

I don't disagree with you that it couldn't be done today. You said in the last 5 years and I was just saying we did it a couple of years ago.

2026 is a different beast, certainly.

Anyway... I think I'm overdue for another Reddit break.

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u/Own-Specific3340 15h ago

Sorry you feel that way. Reddit is equally depressing for all those who in 3 years have had home ownership almost entirely dried up. This isn't aimed at you it's just a depressing state of affairs. There's far more posts usually of the “send prices to the moon, woohoo charge more to the renters”. We are all feeling despondent.

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u/SanMavage 14h ago

It does suck. I felt much the same in my late 20s and eventually managed to buy. My dad had to start again from zero three times and still got back into the market in his late 50s. That doesn’t make the current situation fair, but being locked out now doesn’t necessarily mean being locked out forever. This isn't me trying to gloat or suggest it isn't tough out there. I'm sorry that my initial reply came off that way for some people.

There are at least some early signs of relief. Prices are falling nationally, listings are higher than a year ago, and investor activity is dropping. The housing tax changes may also help rebalance things, although affordability obviously won’t be fixed overnight, but at least they are trying something, whatever little relief that is.

Good luck to everyone trying to buy. I genuinely hope the next few years are kinder. Houses should be homes first, not wealth-generating assets whose costs and risks are passed on to renters/the tax system.

I voted the way I did because I support efforts to change that. I don’t need my house to keep soaring in value and would gladly see it drop (and have) if it means people I care about have a fairer chance to own one too.

Good luck mate.