Younger Australians also more open to price corrections than older cohorts
Renters in Western Australia are five times more likely than outright homeowners to accept a house price fall of more than 20%, new polling shows.
Whether such a fall would matter to the mortgage book is a separate question, and regulators appear to think it would matter less than the sentiment data might suggest.
The polling comes from the inaugural Western AustraliaNOW report, a quarterly survey from GRA Partners and Quantum Market Research, based on a nationally representative sample of 1,515 people including 162 West Australians, conducted across May and June 2026.
What regulators think happens if prices actually fall
Before turning to what West Australians say they want, it is worth noting what the Reserve Bank has already modelled for a sharp downturn.
Its stress testing found that even in a scenario of double-digit unemployment and a 40% fall in housing values, fewer than 4% of borrowers would be expected to fall behind on their loans, with most retaining enough equity to sell without lender losses.
That finding sits well beyond the price falls most respondents in the WA survey say they would accept, which suggests the loan book has more headroom than borrower sentiment alone would imply.
Renters and owners want different outcomes
The WA survey found 37% of renters said house prices could fall by more than 20%, compared with 7% of outright homeowners. Across the full sample, 32% of voters said they would accept declines of 11% or more, while 6% opposed any fall in prices at all.
A further 34% said they would accept more modest declines of up to 10%, and 28% said they did not know what level of decline would be reasonable. Only 6% of respondents said prices should not fall under any circumstances.
The gap between sentiment and the market
The sentiment for falls sits against a market that has been moving in the opposite direction. Perth dwelling values rose 0.7% in June 2026 to a median of $1,046,551, with annual growth of 23.9%, placing the city ahead of every other Australian capital. Units in Perth grew even faster over the year, at 26.3%, against 23.6% for houses.
That momentum has continued even as the cash rate has climbed. The RBA has raised the cash rate three times in 2026 to 4.35%, responding to the global energy shock tied to the conflict involving Iran, with policymakers noting further tightening remains possible.
Under current settings, banks assess new borrowers at rates near 9%. APRA's serviceability buffer, which requires banks to test whether borrowers can absorb a 3-percentage-point rise on top of the loan rate, has been in place since 2021, and the regulator has held it steady through the current cycle on the basis that it provides a contingency against income shocks as well as rate rises.
Age adds another layer to the split
Younger West Australians were also more open to price corrections than older cohorts. Among those aged 18-39, 45% said falls of 11% or more would be reasonable.
The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre's Housing Affordability in Western Australia 2025 report offers some context for that gap. It found only 44% of WA residents believe they will ever own a home, citing purchase affordability and deposit constraints as the main reasons for renting long term, against what the report described as "a chronic imbalance between soaring demand and stagnant supply."
GRA Partners managing partner Jason Marocchi said the results run against a common assumption in the housing debate.
"There's a long-held belief that voters won't tolerate lower house prices," he said, adding that the affordability crisis has made that view difficult to sustain.
Supply hasn't caught up either
New supply has not been closing the gap in the way policymakers had hoped. Total dwelling approvals in Western Australia fell 1.3% in May 2026, though approvals for private sector houses rose 9.9% over the same month.
The state's approvals figures have swung between gains and falls for several months running, pointing to an uneven pipeline rather than a steady lift in new stock.
The WA survey also measured appetite for growth locally. Nearly half of respondents (49%) said they would support a small increase of up to 10% more homes in their area, while only 16% backed growth of 11-20%. Larger increases drew little support, with 6% backing growth of 21-50% and 1% supporting increases above 50%.
Apartments face a scale problem, not a stigma
Sentiment toward apartments was split fairly evenly, with 37% of voters positive, 38% neutral and 25% negative. Support fell once project size increased: 40% would accept developments of up to 50 units locally, only 11% would accept more, and 32% would not accept any units at all.
Building height carried a similar effect. Low-rise projects of one to three storeys drew support from 30% of voters, falling to 12% for mid-rise buildings and 7% for high-rise towers. Respondents nominated on-site parking (43%), height limits (34%) and green space or communal areas (32%) as the factors most likely to make apartment developments acceptable.
Detached housing remained the preferred option among WA respondents, with 59% comfortable having this type built in their local area, compared with 39% for townhouses and 29% for social and affordable housing. Marocchi said most West Australians want more homes built and better affordability outcomes, but want growth delivered in a way that matches community expectations on height, design and local amenity.
Results from the Western AustraliaNOW survey carry a maximum margin of error of ±2.5% at the 95% confidence level.
