Perth Property Market Update: Why Wages Still Can’t Catch the Dream of Home Ownership (Q4 2025)

Perth’s housing market has continued its upward climb through 2025, defying wage growth and stretching affordability to new limits.

Between 2012 and 2024, the average wage in Perth rose by just 37.5% in current dollar terms. Over the same period, house prices surged by 95.1%. Even with a cooling economy and rising living costs, property prices have proven remarkably resilient, leaving many West Australians wondering if the dream of home ownership is slipping permanently out of reach.

For single individuals and single parents, this gap isn’t just a statistic, it’s a lived experience. Many are earning steady incomes, managing budgets carefully, and still finding that buying a home feels impossible.

“The predominant theme I see across my client base is simple,” says Hannah Richards, a finance coach who helps individuals navigate financial stress. “Their income just isn’t enough anymore.”

A cultural shift we haven’t caught up with

This isn’t only an economic story: it’s a cultural one. For decades, Australians have been told that if they work hard, save diligently, and avoid unnecessary debt, home ownership will follow. But in 2025, that promise no longer aligns with reality.

Many Australians still hold onto the belief that wanting more money is greedy or that hard work alone should be enough. Yet in a market increasingly driven by investors, global capital, and corporate profits that have outpaced wage growth, those old values can quietly sabotage financial progress.

“We need to start having very honest conversations about money,” Hannah says. “It’s no longer realistic to rely on a single income stream, especially when the cost of living has outpaced wage growth this significantly.”

The new rules of financial survival

Personal finance has become more than a budgeting exercise. It’s a modern survival skill. Australians are realising that to keep pace with rising costs, they need to think differently about how money works.

That means:

• Rethinking income generation beyond traditional employment

• Learning how to build and protect assets, even in uncertain times

• And perhaps most importantly, decoupling the idea that earning more must mean working more

“Many of my clients come in exhausted, believing they need to grind harder to get ahead,” Hannah explains. “But we don’t exist in that world anymore. The idea that working more hours will automatically equal financial security just doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.”

What needs to change

While policy shifts (like wage reform and housing affordability initiatives) are essential, individuals can’t afford to wait for government intervention. The new financial reality calls for a mindset shift: one where people take active ownership of their financial education, explore new ways to grow wealth, and design lives that aren’t entirely dictated by their paychecks.

As Hannah puts it:

“The economy has changed. It’s time we change the way we think about money, too.”