The Perth Property Show

Host Trent Fleskens interviews REIWA councillor and SOCO/PM Collective founder Ashley Goodchild about her path from an 18-year-old receptionist in 1998 to building a 1,200-management business, driven by entrepreneurship and low fear of failure. Goodchild explains how modern PM differs from earlier days, why the industry must stay relevant through incremental change, and her focus on preparing PMs for future shifts such as sustainability and technology. She attributes growth and staff retention to customised management within clear “four walls,” avoiding blanket rules, and running start-to-end portfolios with a strong emphasis on leasing quality. They discuss tech choices (PropertyMe, Tarpi, InspectionXpress), fee and client-fit decisions based on trust and dollar returns, rent-roll buying lessons, and a future model leaning toward brand-centric, call-centre-like servicing. She outlines PM Collective as a support network for PM business owners and shares strategies to reduce churn and influence investor retention via benchmarking surveys and annual audits.

Host Trent Fleskens interviews WA developer Adam Zorzi (Australian Development Capital) about current Perth projects and market constraints. Zorzi details the Price Street Subiaco project (31 apartments plus townhouses) enabled by excising a vacant strata lot from Pindan’s earlier stage, and discusses pricing driven by replacement cost (about $16–18k/sqm; a remaining 2x2 about $1.4m) and a shared “guest house” amenity to reduce buyers’ need for extra bedrooms. He recounts Moss Lane, Mosman Park (bought 2018; completion late Aug/Sept next year), redeveloping an underserviced shopping centre into 2,200 sqm retail with new F&B and higher-priced apartments. Zorzi says most apartment/townhouse projects don’t work due to high labor/material costs, scarce builders, and government work crowding out private development; he has pivoted to a Claremont specialist medical centre. He updates Perth Girls’ School: planning changes, exhumation of unrecorded cemetery remains, a new PBSA approval (1,100 beds) and potential social/affordable housing on northern land, with modular/offshore procurement as key to feasibility. Both discuss ongoing housing undersupply, sentiment-driven price forecasts, and the need for policy and cost solutions.

Host Trent Fleskens speaks with buyer’s agent Rohan Powell (Verve) about a two-paced Perth market where rising listings and low transactions reflect mismatched asking prices and an influx of compromised “C/D-grade” stock, while scarce, finished, well-located homes still attract strong competition. They discuss how high renovation and build costs are pushing buyers to pay for completed products, the growing use of auctions and off-market campaigns to manufacture urgency, and why better agents are working harder to generate demand. Powell says current buyers are largely local upgraders advised to allocate more into their principal residence, often negotiating 10–15% below asking, while trophy assets and large landholdings continue to transact strongly. They cover downsizer demand for low-strata, land-based luxury builds, limited new supply, and the view that prices remain structurally supported by undersupply despite sentiment-driven softness in compromised properties.

Host Trent Fleskens interviews Michael McGowan about Western Australia’s brick shortage, its causes, industry impacts, and solutions. McGowan explains WA went from three brick manufacturers to effectively one after ACCC-approved consolidation and Austral mothballed its Cardup plant, leaving Midland/BGC operating only five kilns (down from 11) at capacity. With 85% of homes using bricks (70% double brick, 15% veneer) and commencements around 26,000, Midland introduced an allocation system based on 12‑month purchase history, typically delivering about 50–70% of prior volumes, hitting small builders hardest and delaying projects and progress payments. Proposed responses include pivoting to timber/steel or brick veneer via concurrent permitting and engineering sign-off, assessing labor/material capacity and financing impacts. Government funding aims to restart Cardup by March/April, with imports/interstate supply also explored; the disruption may last about 12 months and accelerate a longer-term shift toward more framed construction. Consumers are urged to be patient, communicate with builders, and consider alternative construction methods

Host Trent Fleskens opens the Perth Property Show noting spring brings more listings while weekly sales remain in the mid–low 600s, about 25% below pre-budget levels, pushing stock on market to around 8,000 despite Perth still being under a balanced market. Guest agent Rash Dhanjal says investor activity has fallen sharply, with fewer investment loans and investors now mainly chasing yield or retain-and-build opportunities. They discuss days on market stretching from around 8 earlier in the year to roughly 28–35 days, with well-presented, well-priced homes still selling quickly and overpriced or flawed properties lingering. Affordability constraints from rate rises, budget impacts, and negative gearing changes are dampening sentiment, with expectations of mostly sideways growth. Rash outlines strategies including sharper pricing, staging, after-hours buyer work, and selective off-market or “buzz” campaigns, sharing an Ellenbrook example that generated 24 offers and a much higher price in 24 hours.