Morning Briefing: September quarter figures show continual softening in the Perth market

Figures from Western Australia’s peak real estate body have further illustrated the troubles facing Perth’s real estate market... One of Australia's most wanted fugitives has been found living in a small town in America...

September quarter figures show continual softening in the Perth market
Figures from Western Australia’s peak real estate body have further illustrated the troubles facing Perth’s real estate market.

According to the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA), the September quarter was a tough one for Perth, with the city continuing to suffer in a number of areas.

In terms of prices, the September quarter saw both the median price for houses and units take a backward step.

“The median house price for the September quarter came in at $522,133, an adjustment of 4.2% on the revised June quarter median of $545,000, while units and apartments edged back 2.3% to $420,125 from the revised June quarter figure of $430,000,” REIWA president Hayden Groves said.

The fall in prices hasn’t prevented people from taking their properties to market, with the REIWA figures showing listings are currently at levels not seen since the aftermath of the GFC.

That level of stock on market has meant the Perth market has swung in favour of buyers, which has resulted in properties taking longer to sell.

“With these stock levels of property available in Perth, prospective buyers considering a purchase in the WA property market are under less pressure,” Groves said.

“The average number of selling days for the Perth metro region is now at 62 days, which is up five days on the June quarter, while 53% of vendors needed to discount their asking price in order to sell,” he said.

Not surprisingly, those figures coincide with a drop in the number of sale across the state for the September quarter.

“We estimate that total dwelling sales for the quarter will come in at around 8,600 sales across WA, below the average and fewer than the June quarter, although the winter months normally return a subdued sales volume measure,” Groves said. 

 
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Michael Hand tracked down in US 
One of Australia's most wanted fugitives has been found living in a small town in America.

Michael Hand, co-founder of the Sydney-based international merchant bank Nugan Hand and one of Australia's most wmnted fugitives has been tracked down living in America, according to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald. 

Hand disappeared in 1980 amid rumours of CIA and organised crime involvement in the bank as the US tried to back anti-communist governments and anti-communist insurgents at the height of the Cold War.

Hand was found by Sydney author Peter Butt who wrote in his new book, Merchants of Menace, that 73 year old Handis living under the name Michael Jon Fuller in the small town of Idaho Falls where he makes tactical weapons for US Special Forces, special operations groups and hunters.

Hand disappeared 35 years ago after his partner, Griffith-born lawyer Frank Nugan, then 37, was found dead beside a .30-calibre rifle in his Mercedes-Benz outside Lithgow and a coroner founded Nugan had killed himself.

Nugan Hand bank collapsed with debts over $50 million and a subsequent royal commission found evidence of money-laundering, illegal tax avoidance schemes and widespread violations of banking laws, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. 

 
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