Western Australian homeowners spent $1.2 billion renovating their properties during the 2025-26 financial year, as housing shortages, high property prices and delays to new builds encouraged more people to improve the homes they already own.
Greater Perth accounted for $934 million of the total, with $130.9 million spent in June alone. The figures cover work ranging from major kitchen and bathroom upgrades to smaller cosmetic improvements.
Cottesloe-Claremont recorded the highest renovation spending among Perth’s statistical areas, at about $127 million. The figure was up by $7 million on the previous year.
Perth City was next, with just over $108 million invested, followed by Stirling, where homeowners spent $93 million. Stirling recorded the largest annual increase, rising by $30 million.
Spending also increased by about $20 million in each of the areas ranked fourth and fifth, according to architect and former deputy Lord Mayor of Perth Sandy Anghie.
“Overall there has been an increase of $120 million in renovations across the board … and Cottesloe-Claremont is still on top in 2025-26,” Ms Anghie said.
She said the combination of limited housing supply, soaring prices, lengthy new-build delays, land constraints and transaction costs was likely to keep renovation activity elevated.
“It is obviously an increasing trend in WA, which is actually a good thing for sustainability reasons,” she said. “But it looks like [more] people are staying put and upgrading, which is also more practical and cost-effective.”
Ms Anghie said younger couples were among those choosing to retain and modernise character homes, while apartment owners in Perth’s central business district were also undertaking improvements.
Common projects included modernising kitchens and bathrooms, changes which can improve day-to-day living while potentially adding to a property’s future sale value.
Renovation spending reflects housing market pressures
Master Builders WA chief executive Matt Moran said owners who were happy with their suburb were increasingly choosing to upgrade rather than compete for another property.
“If someone already owns a property in a suburb they like, many are opting to improve what they have rather than jumping back into a very competitive property market,” Mr Moran said.
Established areas such as Stirling, Joondalup and Melville were likely to see strong demand because they have older housing stock, established communities and relatively high land values, he said.
Schools, neighbours, beaches, parks, transport links and family networks could all influence the decision to remain in place. A renovation could also provide extra space, including a bedroom, a larger kitchen, an entertaining area or a home office.
Mr Moran cautioned, however, that renovating was not automatically cheaper than building a new home. Work on an existing property could involve demolition, restricted access, temporary construction measures, the integration of old and new materials and unexpected problems hidden within the structure.
“Somebody might spend less overall because they are only altering part of their home, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the building work itself is cheaper,” he said.
The areas with the lowest renovation spending were Kwinana, at $9 million, Serpentine-Jarrahdale, at $13 million, and Gosnells, at $17 million.
Nu Wealth managing director Daniel McQuillan urged homeowners to consider the likely effect of improvements on resale value before committing to costly work.
He said renovations should prioritise visible parts of a property that would appeal to prospective buyers and strengthen its value, rather than focusing solely on personal preferences.
