Kalgoorlie/Boulder leads WA house price growth in year to September: ANZ

House prices in Kalgoorlie/Boulder in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia have risen 10% over the year to September, making it the top-performing market in the state, according to ANZ.

As the graph below shows, regional markets in WA have been both the best performers and the worst performers over the 12-month period, with the largest price decline of 8% recorded in Pallinup in the Great Southern region.

In July Property Observer reported that Kalgoorlie/Boulder had been removed off a Westpac list of mainly mining towns deemed as risky single-industry mining towns, where the bank is reluctant to provide investor loans.

Real Estate Institute of WA president David Airey said that in contrast to “unsustainable” house prices and rents in mining towns like Karratha, Port Hedland, South Hedland and Newman “the steady growth and more affordable market of Kalgoorlie-Boulder perhaps offers greater confidence to lenders”.

Recent sales in Kalgoorlie include this four-bedroom fully renovated house (below) in Lamington, built in 1925, which sold for $358,000 in October having been listed in June for $399,000. The property sold through Andrew Zafer from Fyson & Associates, having last sold for $290,000 in July 2010.

A more affordable investment option was this four-bedroom plain-looking bungalow (below) in South Boulder, dating back to 1950. It sold for $161,000 through Nicola Unkovich, also from Fyson & Associates having last sold for $73,000 in 2005. It has been appraised as promising weekly rental returns of around $300 per week, which would equate to an indicative yield of over 9%.

Notable on the list of top performing regions is Geraldton, picked by Terry Ryder as future potential Gladstone-like hotspot, where house prices increased 4% over the year to September.

For more on Terry Ryder's hotspots selections for 2013 and the three other regional locations that could be the next Gladstone, watch the full free webinar - Regions versus capital cities - where to invest in 2013?