Media Release | March 2026 Index: Despite Mild Easing, Perth’s Land Market Remains Hottest In The Country

• Oliver Hume Land Index and Residential Outlook is Australia’s first and only quarterly, multi-market analysis of the land sector and draws on Oliver Hume’s decades of proprietary data.
• Perth’s overall Land Index score eased slightly from 7.4 to 7.3 in the March quarter, remaining operating significantly above long-term average levels.
• Land supply is likely to continue lagging demand throughout 2026, and we expect this to impact sales volumes in 2026.

Perth’s greenfield land market is still the hottest in Australia, with the Oliver Hume Land Index and Residential Outlook easing mildly from 7.4 to 7.3, remaining operating significantly above long-term average levels across most measures with demand indicators still strong.

Despite a second consecutive quarter of falling sales volumes in the March quarter, the level of land sales remains high compared to long term average levels and stock levels are still close to zero. Cancellation rates remain significantly below long-term average levels.

Perth’s lot price growth pushed even higher, now comfortably higher than triple the long-term average growth rates. This relativity of new house and land prices to the established market remains largely unchanged.

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The Oliver Hume Land Index and Residential Outlook is a comprehensive quarterly analysis of Australia’s major land markets and draws on decades of data and industry expertise to spotlight opportunities and risks in Australia’s $16 billion new land market.

The Index is produced by Oliver Hume’s team of research analysts, led by Chief Economist Matt Bell. It draws on the company’s unparalleled internal land sales data and third-party information to provide insights on key markets in Melbourne, Sydney, South East Queensland, Perth and Adelaide.

Undersupply Continues To Impact Perth Market

Oliver Hume Chief Economist Matt Bell said, similar to Brisbane and Adelaide, Oliver Hume expected a reduction in the level of established house price growth from the current high levels as the market normalises, but at a slower pace due to the ongoing significant undersupply of available properties.

“For our Perth outlook, land supply is likely to continue lagging demand throughout 2026, and we expect this to impact sales volumes in 2026,”

“Population growth and hence demand, is expected to moderate but this will be somewhat offset by an elevated level of pent-up demand due to recent unsatisfied demand.”

Oliver Hume Property Group CEO Julian Coppini said apart from the interest rate increases in the quarter, the other impact on the outlook for residential property overall and new land markets nationally has been the impact of the 2026 Federal Budget.

“However, for Perth, we expect volumes to remain relatively steady with land price growth to continue to be solid in 2026, with only minimal impacts from Federal budget taxation changes and lower established house price growth.

“Perth remains the most heavily undersupplied market nationally.”

About The Index

The Oliver Hume Land Index and Residential Outlook is designed to provide greater understanding and transparency into Australia’s $16 billion a year land sales market. The quarterly Index has two core components.

State of Key National Land Markets

Provides a systematic assessment of the current condition of major land markets around the country. It allows users to compare relative performance across regions and identify the current phase of the cycle in each market.

Each market receives a score calibrated to 5 as the benchmark for a balanced market. A reading above 5 indicates conditions operating above the long-term average, while a reading below 5 signals a market performing below trend. This normalised approach enables direct comparison across cities and regions and allows the research team to systematically rank performance nationwide.

Residential Market Outlook

A 12-month outlook for the key market metrics of land sales volumes and price growth and an outlook for established market house price growth for each market.

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ENDS

Media enquiries to:

Mitchy Koper
Oliver Hume
M.koper@oliverhume.com.au 
0417 771 778

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Lilly Mackay
Oliver Hume
l.mackay@oliverhume.com.au