The latest figures produced by REIWA shows that during the March 2007 quarter, the number of properties available for sale surged by 21% to 13,800 properties.

In contrast, during the March 2006 quarter, REIWA figures show that there were just 5,700 properties for sale.

Nik Jones, Director of Jones Ballard Property Group said that there has been a significant jump in properties listed for sale on main roads.

“Properties in less desirable locations such as main roads tend to take much longer to sell and are penalized the hardest in terms of selling price when the property market softens.

“This is because homebuyers in the Perth real estate market generally favour buying a home in a cul del sac without carefully considering other locations in a suburb.

“For example, in a mid ranged suburb such as Manning, The Jones Ballard Property Group finds that homebuyers will pay up to $100,000 more for a property in a cul del sac compared to a similar home on a more busier road.

“This example is true of many suburbs in Perth where homes on busier roads are unfairly penalized because of the obsession to live in a cul del sac.

“Astute homebuyers now have an opportunity to purchase into high growth more expensive suburbs by purchasing a property on a more busier road.

“Some of these properties offer the opportunity of subdivision which means that a homebuyers and sell the property on the front of the road and build a new home at the rear of the property.

“A good example of this trend is Canning Highway in South Perth where astute homebuyers have competitively purchased federation homes on large blocks and subdivided the blocks. These astute homebuyers have therefore bought a property in a blue chip suburb with considerable profit rather than buying a similarly priced home in a lower growth suburb in a cul del sac.

“In addition, first home buyers have the opportunity of buying older style units in busier roads in areas such as South Perth and Como. These units are now relatively affordable and offer the opportunity for high rates of capital growth during the coming years because of their close proximity to the city centre and river.

“Over a period of time, the gap between houses on busier roads and cul del sacs will decline as the Perth housing market becomes more mature. A similar trend has occurred in Sydney and Melbourne.” he said.

Mr Jones nominated the following 10 busier roads in the Perth metropolitan area where homebuyers could get low cost entry into a high growth suburb:

Labouchere Road ( South Perth)

South Terrace (Como)

Canning Highway (Applecross)

Berwick Street (St James)

Princess Street (Nedlands)

Hale Road ( Wembley Downs)

Karrinyup Road (Innaloo)

Scarborough Beach Road ( Doubleview)

Reynolds Road (Mt Pleasant)

Manning Road (Manning)