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Inner-city and northern suburbs topped the list of hottest markets in which to sell a house according to Real Estate Institute of WA data for 2019.

Last year it took 39 days on average for a house to sell in Wembley, the quickest in the Perth metro area. Other inner-city suburbs such as West Leederville, Nedlands, Shenton Park and Mount Claremont also featured on the list, taking less than 50 days.

Northern suburbs close to the beach also featured heavily in the top 10 with Heathridge coming in at second spot, taking 41 days to sell compared to the overall Perth average of 84 days.

The top-selling suburbs by sales activity growth were more evenly spread across the Perth metro area.

Lakelands, near Mandurah, had a 36 per cent jump in sales in 2019, hitting 72 homes for the year.

Top suburbs by average days to sell

Heathridge also featured in the top 10, jumping 16 per cent to reach 152 home sales for the year.

Of these top suburbs, seven increased the median sale price, with Swanbourne growing 6.3 per cent to hit $1.572 million.

2019 was again a muted year for the Perth property market, with a decrease of five per cent in sales volume.

REIWA President Damian Collins said it was positive to see there were suburbs improving against subdued conditions.

“Last year, sales activity in Perth decreased five per cent, while 57 suburbs bucked this trend to show an increase in activity, with Lakelands demonstrating a 36 per cent increase,” he said.

Top suburbs by sales activity growth

“Increase in sales turnover and a reduction in selling days is often a leading indicator of future price growth in a suburb.”

Mr Collins said sales activity in the lower-priced end of the Perth market remained soft but activity in the $600,000 plus price range strengthened.

He said this has created increased demand among trade-up buyers, who now made up 53 per cent of buyers.

“Increased demand in good, quality stock is creating competition between buyers, resulting in quicker selling times and higher sale prices,” he said.

“As we head further into 2020, the suburbs to watch are the ones where the number of days to sell a house are well below the Perth average.”