Is now the time to buy an inner-city apartment in Perth?

Inner-city Perth apartments are shaping up as a potential property investment for the first time since the mining and construction boom as the rental market continues to tighten and more Australians head west.

End of October figures from Domain show the rental vacancy rate in the CBD has shrunk from 3.3 per cent last year to 1.5 per cent.

Domain senior research analyst Nicola Powell said in other capital cities there had been an increase in vacant rentals.

She said cities like Melbourne and Sydney had suffered from international border closures after historically benefiting from large numbers of overseas migrants.

"Perth has underperformed for many years, population has been one of those drags on housing demand," Dr Powell said.

"What we’ve seen in the June quarter is it has turned around. The drop in available vacant rentals really highlights the competition demand for rentals in Perth

"I think we’re going to see rental price rises; tenants will find competition is very tight, even in the city.

"There is likely to be increased interest from investors from other states where the likelihood of price falls is much greater.

"The thing with Perth I find interesting is we’ve seen the bottom of the sales market. There are green shoots coming out of the sales market. The hard border closures that WA have experienced, and other states and territories have has really changed the dynamics, particularly of the rental market."

Regional internal migration data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics this month revealed metropolitan Perth had gained 400 people in the June quarter from interstate, while Melbourne lost 8000 and Sydney said goodbye to 6000. Perth also gained 600 people from within WA in the same period.

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