Research from the Housing Industry Association and RP Data shows 2438 lot sales in Perth in the three months to September, 89 per cent more than the same time last year.

It is also more than 400 more than the previous quarter. The median lot price was $226,000, or $448 a square metre.

That was a fall of $1500, or 0.7 per cent, on the June quarter, and a 1.6 per cent fall on the same time the previous year. The record median lot price was $265,000 in the December 2007 quarter, the height of the last boom, while it fell to $217,000 in March last year.

The average lot size fell slightly, to 505 square metres.

The figures are also reflected in the south-west and south-east of WA.

South-west sales were 76 per cent higher than the previous year, and there were 24 per cent more sales in the south-east.

The median price in the south-west was $158,250, or $267 a square metre, while in the south-east the median was $147,500, or $204 a square metre.

But the latest results have the researchers enthused, claiming the number of land sales as evidence WA has the "strongest housing recovery in the country".

"(WA) is well placed for a strong year in housing starts with an upside risk to the current forecasts," the report says. 

RP Data national research director Tim Lawless said land supply constraints continued as demand for housing continued to grow.

"We believe that policy makers must act to provide additional residential land which is affordable as well as being close to necessary amenities," he said.

HIA chief economist Harley Dale said while there would be a lift in new home starts in 2010, the land availability question remained.

"The million-dollar question is whether a new home building recovery can be sustained beyond this year," Dr Dale said.

"If land is not released in a timely manner in sufficient quantity, then land prices will continue surging and the answer will be a resounding no."

The HIA has previously estimated WA could face a shortage of up to 25,000 homes a year.