Houses have generally continued to reign supreme over units across Australia but 19 suburbs in Western Australia are defying the trend.

Latest figures from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) listed suburbs whose unit markets outperformed house markets over the year to September 2021 in terms of price gains.

REIWA president Damian Collins said the changes in homebuying dynamics amid the pandemic have resulted in a steeper decline in unit prices from their peak at 17% compared to the 13% drop in house prices.

"Typically, it takes a longer time for the unit market to catch up to houses when prices rebound, however, these 19 suburbs are bucking the trend and seeing unit prices grow at a stronger rate than houses,” Mr Collins said.

Mr Collins said competition has been a driving factor of the robust gains in unit prices in these suburbs, with buyers starting to take advantage of current market conditions.

"Many people are opting for units as a more affordable lock-and-leave option, getting them into affluent suburbs like Mosman Park where the median house price is nearly four times more than the median unit price," he said.

Mosman Park reported the biggest increase to its median unit sale price, up by 39.3% to $430,000.

Mosman Park's housing market, which is at the prime side of the spectrum, registered an annual gain of 16.1% to $1.62m.

However, Joondalup registered the biggest gap between unit and house price growth.

The median price of units in this suburb grew by 31.8%, a far cry from the gain of 7.6% in its housing market.

Meanwhile, unit prices in Maylands and Rockingham increased three times higher than house prices.

Overall, the median unit sale price in Perth rose by 5.2% to $405,000 over the past six months.

Mr Collins believes the growth in units is poised to continue into 2022.

"It’s pleasing to see such steady growth across the Perth unit market, and we don’t see this slowing down any time soon," Mr Collins said.

"With continued buyer demand and low available stock, more buyers may turn to units as an alternative entry into the WA property market."

Photo by Spencer Bergen on Unsplash.