It’s a grim outlook for first-time homebuyers around Australia as house prices continue to soar and Perth house prices are forecast to jump by 19 percent this year, according to ANZ economists.

 The national house prices increased for the first time since 2009 – "The 5.7 percent quarterly gain is the steepest rise in almost 18 years, with all capital cities posting growth.  Perth notched a third consecutive quarter of growth and saw the highest quarterly unit price gain at 3.9 percent. This uninterrupted run of price growth has not occurred since 2013.

It has mostly been driven by:

• the record-low interest rates,
• improved household savings,
• low listing volumes,
• post-lockdown lifestyle changes,
• returning cashed-up ex-pats,
• government incentives.

Properties continue to sell at a faster rate than they did last year. "The Perth market has swung into the seller’s favor and buyers are needing to act a lot faster to secure a property,”