The Albanese government has acknowledged WA will need to attract, develop and retain a highly skilled workforce over the next decade to maintain the nuclear-powered submarines.
New CoreLogic data showed migration into WA was booming and an “extreme flip” in interstate migration has delivered a positive demand shock across the housing sector.
Perth’s property outperformed every capital city in the March quarter, after dwelling values increased by 1.9 per cent, resulting in an annual increase of 19.8 per cent.
Mr Singh said Perth’s suburbs offered property investors value for money that was largely unavailable on the east coast, while the city’s undersupply of homes was pushing prices higher.
“All the investment that is happening in the area is the cherry on top, billions of dollars are being spent on a very small area, so when that happens, there’ll be a heap of jobs created in the area.”
A Melbourne client of Mr Singh’s purchased a home in Waikiki last year, south of Rockingham, which is already being rented to a company which has a defence contract on Garden Island.
Both the Waikiki home and another property for a separate investor in the nearby suburb of Port Kennedy were bought for about $520,000 in mid-2023.
Mr Singh said both properties were being rented for between $580 and $600 a week, a rental yield of roughly 6 per cent, and were both now worth over $620,000.
The Property Council of WA estimates that Perth’s housing shortfall will grow to nearly 25,000 homes by the end of 2027, with valuers tipping sharp rises in property values over the next 12 months.
Meanwhile, shipbuilder Austal is counting on the prospect of long-term careers to lure some 1200 workers it says are needed at Henderson as the Royal Australian Navy upgrades its fleet.
The Albanese government anointed Austal as its monopoly navy shipbuilder in WA last November, and it is expected to build eight frigates at Henderson, based on the outcome of a fleet review in February.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has estimated a $15 billion spend at Henderson, with Austal set to triple its workforce to around 1800.
Speaking as the company handed down its half-year results in February, Austal chief executive Paddy Gregg said it had started recruiting and was trying to win back about 1000 workers it let go when shipbuilding work started to bottom out around 2020.
“If you look at where we peaked about four years ago, we’ve released over 1000 people since that time, and mainly due to lack of work, so now it’s incumbent on us to try and attract those people back,” he said.
“I think we should be able to do that because we’ve never been able to give such certainty for a 20-year order book. For the first time ever, we’ll be able to offer people careers with the confidence that they could see their working life at Austal.”
Mr Gregg said concerns around lithium and nickel in the mining sector created an opportunity to pick up some workers. The nearby Alcoa Kwinana aluminum refinery is expected to shutter later this year, resulting in the loss of at least 750 jobs.
Investorkit head of research Arjun Paliwal said east coast investment in WA was being driven by three major factors: affordability, rental yield and an optimism around the region’s long-term growth cycle.
Major announcements by the federal government on defence contracts had only bolstered investor confidence, he said.
“We’ve seen investors who have a multi-property portfolio far more attracted to Perth because they feel that whilst it is not overnight going to change from a major mining city, it’s having these sorts of projects come through, where they feel like they can see that diversity light at the end of the tunnel,” Mr Paliwal said.
“The Perth inquiries are largely coming from people who own more than one investment property in terms of our client base.”
