Confidence in WA’s property market is now the second highest of any state or territory in Australia, a new survey has found, despite Perth’s change in house prices.

Fresh data gathered for the ANZ/Property Council Survey – which measures industry sentiment – found WA’s property market had jumped nine index points since May, bringing to an end a year-long decline.

Only South Australia trumped WA’s 134 index points for the September quarter, which was six more than the national average of 128.

Property Council WA executive director Sandra Brewer said the results were encouraging for WA.

“Our run of four quarters of declining confidence has come to an end, and all the key indicators are now pointing back in the right direction,” she said.

She said falling expectations for WA’s state economic growth in the June quarter had also rebounded and was now the highest of any jurisdiction for the coming 12 months.

That turnaround was likely driven, Ms Brewer said, by a reversal in the industry’s expectations of the availability of debt finance for the year ahead.

“These promising signs have seen a commensurate small increase in forward work schedule expectations which, if realised, will translate into more jobs for Western Australians,” she said.

“In the residential sector, we’ve seen a much more moderate, but nonetheless important shift in expectations for capital growth in house prices in the coming 12 months, which have also returned to positive territory.”

Source: Perth Now