The Perth Property Show

Host Trent Fleskens interviews REIWA councillor and SOCO/PM Collective founder Ashley Goodchild about her path from an 18-year-old receptionist in 1998 to building a 1,200-management business, driven by entrepreneurship and low fear of failure. Goodchild explains how modern PM differs from earlier days, why the industry must stay relevant through incremental change, and her focus on preparing PMs for future shifts such as sustainability and technology. She attributes growth and staff retention to customised management within clear “four walls,” avoiding blanket rules, and running start-to-end portfolios with a strong emphasis on leasing quality. They discuss tech choices (PropertyMe, Tarpi, InspectionXpress), fee and client-fit decisions based on trust and dollar returns, rent-roll buying lessons, and a future model leaning toward brand-centric, call-centre-like servicing. She outlines PM Collective as a support network for PM business owners and shares strategies to reduce churn and influence investor retention via benchmarking surveys and annual audits.

Host Trent Fleskens interviews WA developer Adam Zorzi (Australian Development Capital) about current Perth projects and market constraints. Zorzi details the Price Street Subiaco project (31 apartments plus townhouses) enabled by excising a vacant strata lot from Pindan’s earlier stage, and discusses pricing driven by replacement cost (about $16–18k/sqm; a remaining 2x2 about $1.4m) and a shared “guest house” amenity to reduce buyers’ need for extra bedrooms. He recounts Moss Lane, Mosman Park (bought 2018; completion late Aug/Sept next year), redeveloping an underserviced shopping centre into 2,200 sqm retail with new F&B and higher-priced apartments. Zorzi says most apartment/townhouse projects don’t work due to high labor/material costs, scarce builders, and government work crowding out private development; he has pivoted to a Claremont specialist medical centre. He updates Perth Girls’ School: planning changes, exhumation of unrecorded cemetery remains, a new PBSA approval (1,100 beds) and potential social/affordable housing on northern land, with modular/offshore procurement as key to feasibility. Both discuss ongoing housing undersupply, sentiment-driven price forecasts, and the need for policy and cost solutions.

Host Trent Fleskens speaks with buyer’s agent Rohan Powell (Verve) about a two-paced Perth market where rising listings and low transactions reflect mismatched asking prices and an influx of compromised “C/D-grade” stock, while scarce, finished, well-located homes still attract strong competition. They discuss how high renovation and build costs are pushing buyers to pay for completed products, the growing use of auctions and off-market campaigns to manufacture urgency, and why better agents are working harder to generate demand. Powell says current buyers are largely local upgraders advised to allocate more into their principal residence, often negotiating 10–15% below asking, while trophy assets and large landholdings continue to transact strongly. They cover downsizer demand for low-strata, land-based luxury builds, limited new supply, and the view that prices remain structurally supported by undersupply despite sentiment-driven softness in compromised properties.

Host Trent Fleskens interviews Michael McGowan about Western Australia’s brick shortage, its causes, industry impacts, and solutions. McGowan explains WA went from three brick manufacturers to effectively one after ACCC-approved consolidation and Austral mothballed its Cardup plant, leaving Midland/BGC operating only five kilns (down from 11) at capacity. With 85% of homes using bricks (70% double brick, 15% veneer) and commencements around 26,000, Midland introduced an allocation system based on 12‑month purchase history, typically delivering about 50–70% of prior volumes, hitting small builders hardest and delaying projects and progress payments. Proposed responses include pivoting to timber/steel or brick veneer via concurrent permitting and engineering sign-off, assessing labor/material capacity and financing impacts. Government funding aims to restart Cardup by March/April, with imports/interstate supply also explored; the disruption may last about 12 months and accelerate a longer-term shift toward more framed construction. Consumers are urged to be patient, communicate with builders, and consider alternative construction methods

Host Trent Fleskens opens the Perth Property Show noting spring brings more listings while weekly sales remain in the mid–low 600s, about 25% below pre-budget levels, pushing stock on market to around 8,000 despite Perth still being under a balanced market. Guest agent Rash Dhanjal says investor activity has fallen sharply, with fewer investment loans and investors now mainly chasing yield or retain-and-build opportunities. They discuss days on market stretching from around 8 earlier in the year to roughly 28–35 days, with well-presented, well-priced homes still selling quickly and overpriced or flawed properties lingering. Affordability constraints from rate rises, budget impacts, and negative gearing changes are dampening sentiment, with expectations of mostly sideways growth. Rash outlines strategies including sharper pricing, staging, after-hours buyer work, and selective off-market or “buzz” campaigns, sharing an Ellenbrook example that generated 24 offers and a much higher price in 24 hours.

Host Trent Fleskens welcomes Chris Jones from Davey Real Estate to discuss Perth’s September market and a detailed update on Duncraig, a blue-chip, largely owner-occupied suburb that historically shows strong downside protection. They compare 2018’s $690,000 median with today’s roughly $1.5 million, noting recent years’ rapid growth and how sentiment shifted after the budget announcement: home open numbers fell (30–50 down to ~15), offers briefly dropped to zero, and days on market stretched from about six days to weeks, though multiple-offer scenarios have begun returning in recent weeks. They discuss increased buyer selectiveness, opportunistic low offers, more subject-to-sale contracts, and the importance of experienced local agents in a slowing market. Zoning, demand for downsizing duplex lots, school-catchment dynamics, and new amenities (including Glengarry Shops’ redevelopment) are highlighted, with a view that supply may tighten again after New Year due to ongoing demand.

On the Perth Property Show, host Trent Fleskens previews an RBA meeting he fears will bring another rate rise and outlines a softer, choppier Perth market: weekly sales have fallen to about 650 from 800–900 in prior years, new listings sit near 800 a week, and stock on market is rising into the low-to-mid 7,000s. Guest Cam Smart (Ray White Cannington) says buyer inquiry and home open attendance are down more than 50% since budget day, with good homes still attracting competition while overpriced listings are being quickly “found out.” They discuss auctions as a transparency tool, with Cam citing his own results that most passed-in auctions later receive offers, and that auctions can improve unconditional sale rates by day 30–90. The conversation covers shifting buyer criteria, a rise in local investor activity, tenant and access issues affecting presentation, and rental pressure from regulation and affordability, with both stressing realistic pricing and honest agent advice.

On the Perth Property Show, host Trent Fleskens speaks with Norm Roberts, Managing Director and Executive Chairman of Offsite, about WA’s shift toward panellised, timber-framed construction. Norm explains Offsite’s origins (founded 2009, pivoted in 2019, purchased by his group in 2024) and its scale-up from 25 staff in a 3,000sqm site to 160+ staff in an 11,000sqm factory, now producing flat-packed wall, roof, floor and stair panels (not modular) that can reach lock-up quickly, with windows and doors installed in-factory. They discuss logistics advantages, energy performance (around 7.5+ NatHERS), carbon storage potential, builder resistance to factory-installed plumbing/electrical, developer demand for higher-yield townhouse projects, current capacity targets, timber sourcing from WA plantations, fire/bushfire ratings up to BAL 40, and expansion plans including a larger second facility plus applications beyond housing such as aged care, lifestyle villages, classrooms and other repeatable buildings.

Host Trent Fleskens is joined by Brendon Ptolomey (Herron Todd White) for a quarterly WA regional property update, noting several markets are starting to mirror Perth with higher listings, easing FOMO and modest corrections. Bunbury (and Mandurah) is showing early contract evidence of about 5% off peaks, with concern that demand is more investor-driven and may weaken if investors exit. Busselton/Dunsborough is resetting to “stable” values, around 5–10% off optimistic peak expectations, while still undersupplied. Albany remains tight and rising, with examples of lots reselling from mid-$400s to low-$500s due to strong demand and limited supply. Kalgoorlie is “counter-cyclical,” driven by yield-chasing investors targeting 8–12% gross returns. Geraldton is stabilising, Karratha is cooling as investor heat fades, and Broome remains active on rentals but vulnerable longer term due to planned land supply, with discussion of incentives for new regional builds.

Host Trent Fleskens welcomes Shane Beaumont to the Perth Property Show to unpack a post-budget quarter where Perth’s market has cooled despite weekly sales volumes holding up, with offer counts dropping sharply and buyers taking more time. Beaumont says conditions now feel more “balanced,” with many listings mispriced for current sentiment, and stresses that price is an invitation to act; sellers should benchmark against current competing listings, not earlier sales with different circumstances, and seek leading agents who understand the story behind results and pending subject sales. The pair discuss normalisation in days on market, a shift toward certainty in contract terms, and how fatigue is delaying demand rather than removing it, while a resilient rental market and migration continue to underpin Perth. They also outline buyer opportunities in value-add properties, under-leased rentals, and retain-and-build strategies.