Real Estate Institute of WA president Alan Bourke said the mark seemed certain to be broken for the three months to March 31 thanks to buyers chasing higher-priced property.

Official figures are not due to be released until May, but they would represent a turnaround from statistics from other property analysts in recent months, which showed small falls in house prices in the city after a run up late last year.

According to REIWA data, the median house price for the December quarter was $480,000, itself a $5000 increase on the previous Perth record set two years earlier.

Mr Bourke said sales of homes priced under $400,000 had quietened, thanks largely to the end of the First Home Owners Grant boost last year. The strongest part of the market was now homes in the $500,000 to $600,000 range.

These now represented about 18 per cent of the market, with the $750,000 to $1 million price bracket also showing strong demand.

There were 12,700 properties for sale at the end of March, 22 per cent more than three months earlier. The figure included 2060 blocks of land.

Buyers and sellers now felt the worst of the global financial crisis was behind them, Mr Bourke said.

The news was not as good for tenants, with the rental vacancy rate dropping 0.3 of a percentage point for the three months to February, and now sit at 4.5 per cent.

The median weekly rent for houses has risen $5, to $380, while it has remained steady at $350 for units.

Source: Domain.com.au