May property activity figures show continued improvement

The May 2012 Business Activity Profile, released today, shows continued improvement in Western Australia's property activity according to Landgate, the State's official land information authority.

Chief Executive Mike Bradford said property activity figures over the last few months indicated that the market was steadily improving.

"In May we saw an increase of 19.15 per cent in the total number of documents lodged compared to April 2012, and an increase of 7.36 per cent compared to May last year," said Mr Bradford.

"The total number of transfers lodged in May also increased; by 17.34 per cent from the previous month, and by 12.87 per cent compared to the same period of time last year."

The majority of these transfers continued to occur at the lower end of the property market with the $200,001 – $500,000 price band claiming 49.30 per cent of activity.

However there were significant increases in the $600,001 – $700,000 (up 10.05 per cent) and $900,001 – $1,000,000 (up 27.82 per cent) price bands compared to April 2012.

Increases in May were also seen in the number of mortgages lodged, which were up 19.65 per cent on the previous month, and up 9.96 per cent compared to May 2011.

However, the May figures were down 14.33 per cent on the last ten years' average for the month of May.

Landgate's Business Activity Profile covers all property related documents lodged within Landgate and is a barometer of the state of the property market in Western Australia.

The May 2012 Business Activity Profile is available on Landgate's website. It provides the daily average of all documents lodged, with sections detailing transfers, mortgages, caveats, searches and other categories of property related documents.

Landgate is Western Australia's primary source of land information and geographic data, providing the accuracy government, business and individuals rely on.