Pain and gain: The Perth suburbs rising the profitability rankings

Outer Perth suburbs like Bassendean and Joondalup are rising the ranks of postcodes with high returns on the vast majority of homes sold at a profit, according to a new report.

Most Perth properties sold in the September quarter made a profit – 98.2 per cent, according to Cotality’s latest Pain and Gain report, which examined about 100,000 property resales across the nation down to the local government area level.

Perth ranked third in the nation for profitability, behind Adelaide (99.3 per cent profitable sales) and Brisbane (99.8 per cent).

The Town of Cottesloe, perhaps unsurprisingly, posted the highest returns in Perth with a median profit of $1 million.

In the City of Melville, 97.8 per cent of properties sold in the September quarter made a profit, with the median coming in at $527,500.

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However, in the Town of Bassendean, all sales recorded made a profit, according to Cotality, with the median profit being $422,500. The median amount of time owners held on to their properties was 11.2 years.

And in the City of Joondalup, where 99.8 per cent of sales came out on top, the median profit was $525,000.

The tiny riverside local government of East Fremantle saw a median profit of $650,000 on the 95.5 per cent of profit-making sales. There, the median hold time was 15.9 years.

In explaining the sliver of sales that didn’t record a profit, Cotality pointed to home owners who bought during the previous mining boom cutting their losses and selling out following an “extreme period” of growth over the past five years.

But that argument didn’t hold water, according to Perth property expert Trent Fleskens, who noted the profit-making price point for mining boom-era purchases came and went two to three years ago.

Fleskens, the managing director of Strategic Property Group, said the reality was that a market would never get to 100 per cent profitability, and there would always be people who sold at a loss for reasons such as death and divorce.

He said consensus in the industry was that the Perth market would see double-digit growth over the next year, “which is pretty bleak for a lot of young people out there”.

“I don’t expect to see this change for the foreseeable future,” he said.

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Fleskens said the market would not cool until the demand side of the equation – including migration – eased, noting “supply is working as hard as they can”.

Nationally, 95.5 per cent of sellers made a nominal profit, up from 94.9 per cent in the June quarter, which was the strongest result since July 2005.

Cotality’s head of research Eliza Owen said the increase in profitability was strongly correlated with rising market values, driven partly by improved credit conditions after cash rate cuts earlier in 2025.

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