Perth off-the-plan buyers now weigh the builder as much as price

Builder credibility and realistic completion dates now matter to Perth’s off-the-plan apartment buyers as much as price and location, according to a release from Perth development consultancy Jones Realty and Projects published on 30 October 2026.

Why it matters

The market has shifted noticeably since August, Jones Realty and Projects director and licensee Nicole Jones said, with many buyers choosing to wait. Buyers have watched projects stall and builders collapse elsewhere in Australia in recent years, and some have paid deposits on developments that never proceeded.

Jones said rising interest rates and a larger pool of listed property have given buyers more time and more choice, so price alone is no longer enough to close a sale. “We’re not seeing buyers disappear. We’re seeing buyers demand better answers before they commit,” she said.

The numbers

Home indemnity insurance in Western Australia generally does not apply to apartment buildings over three storeys, the release states, leaving buyers with fewer statutory protections on larger projects. That gap has put buyers on alert, and they are pushing harder for answers on how their deposit is protected, what a sunset clause lets a developer do, and what recourse they have if a project falls through.

Jones Realty and Projects managing director Steve Jones said builders are operating at capacity, with crews stretched and fixed-price contracts carrying real risk, making builders more selective about the work they take on. He said that pressure flows through to buyers. Nicole Jones framed the scale of what is being asked of purchasers directly: buyers are being asked to commit about $1m to a property that does not yet exist, she said, while facing unanswered questions about delivery.

What’s next

Steve Jones said developers now need to name the builder at launch, disclose that builder’s completion record, explain the contract type and who carries cost risk, and set out how a project is staged so buyers know when construction will actually start. He said a developer able to answer those questions without hesitating gives buyers a reason to commit, while one that cannot gives them a reason to keep waiting.

Nicole Jones said buyers have not disappeared from the Perth market but have become more selective about where they put their money, calling it a shift that will force the industry to lift its standards. She said the projects that outperform will not necessarily be the ones with the biggest marketing budgets, but those able to demonstrate they can deliver what they are selling. AusDev reported on 30 October that the Metro Inner DAP approved the $67m Claremont on the Park stage two tower against a staff recommendation of refusal.