Lowest property activity for a January since 2011

Western Australia’s property market had a slow start to the second half of the financial year, with Landgate’s Business Activity Profile (BAP) recording the lowest number of document lodgements for the month of January since 2011.

January’s figures showed declines in every type of document when compared to the previous month of December, although Landgate Chief Executive Mike Bradford said it was typical for activity to decrease between these months.

“January’s low figures represent a traditionally quiet month for the property sector in what is an already subdued market,” Mr Bradford said.

“Among the most affected types of documents was transfers, with 4,853 lodged in January compared to 6,460 in December – a drop of 25 per cent.”

The number of transfer lodgements in January was also well below the month’s three year average (6,237).

On a more positive note, Mr Bradford said the number of strata lots being created was holding strong.

“There were 1,049 strata lots created in January, which is an unusually high number for the month,” he said.

“The figures for strata lot creation during the past three Januarys average out to 587 per month, making the figure for January 2016 79 per cent higher than January’s three year average.”

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 January BAP 2016 is available on Landgate's website. It provides the monthly total of all documents lodged with sections detailing transfers, mortgages, caveats, searches and other categories of property related documents.

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Note to editors

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

Contact: Karen McPherson, Media and Ministerial Adviser

Phone: +61 (0)8 9273 7514 +61 (0)407 420 255

Email: karen.mcpherson@landgate.wa.gov.au