Only eight land sales in the Pilbara in six months as housing stock woes continue to plague the region

A new report showed there were only eight land sales in the entire Pilbara in the past six months as a lack of new housing supply continues to plague the region. The findings were published in the Pilbara Development Commission’s biannual Housing and Land Snapshot which also showed the median land price in Port Hedland had increased 125 per cent compared with the first half of 2022. The average piece of land in Port Hedland now went for $281,300. PDC regional development director Michael Heap said the minuscule amount of land sales in the Pilbara showed the region’s dire housing supply issue was not getting any better. “One of the biggest things was the eight vacant land sales in the entire Pilbara over the six-month period,” he said. “It’s a sign that the housing stock isn’t going to increase anytime soon and people aren’t buying land because, for various reasons, they believe they can’t afford to build. “Eight in the entire region is kind of a startling number.” In the first half of 2022, there were 26 vacant land sales in the Pilbara. Mr Heap said the cost of building and labour supply was potentially affecting people’s confidence in building a new home in the Pilbara. “It’s purely the ability to build at a price that the bank is going to value at and that you can lend against,” he said. “At the moment we are hearing numbers comfortably north of $ 1 million dollars to build, landscape, and get into your house. “The bank just isn’t going to value that so either you have a very large cash deposit or you can’t afford to do it right now .” While the issue was worrying, he said said there was work at multiple levels of government to solve the problem. “I know local governments are doing lots of work with key worker housing projects both in Karratha and Port Hedland,” he said. “The State Government has put a lot of money into social housing which will absolutely benefit the broader stock. “But they are also finding it difficult to get builders to build at a price that is reasonable and at price where they will get value for money for the public.” The report showed the rental price in the Pilbara had increased by 17 per cent and the number of new listings had decreased by 24 per cent. The market in Port Hedland had the most drastic change with a 128.5 per cent median rental price increase leaving average weekly rent at $1200. Mr Heap said the increase was due to worker confidence. “I think, from a work perspective, people believe the future of Port Hedland is very strong,” he said. “People want to stay there for an extended period of time and not cycle through leases. “The number of rentals coming on the market is low because people want to stay in them.” The number of rental listing decreased by 85 per cent in the period.