Jessica Hawes and her fiance Callan Bennett sold their Parmelia property in Perth's south last week for $115,000 above what they paid for it in September 2019, thanks to a huge house price boom in the area and across the country.

The City of Kwinana, which includes Parmelia, recorded the biggest increase in property value in Perth in the last 12 months, up by nearly 11 per cent, according to CoreLogic.

The couple bought their four-bedroom, two-bathroom home for just over $300,000 and quickly started renovations worth around $50,000, including spending $20,000 on the kitchen.

"We're still in disbelief about how much we actually sold our house for because it's insane," Ms Hawes said.

"I think we're walking away with about a $52,000 profit, which is huge."

The pair were not planning to sell, but the booming property market was too tempting especially because it was not their "forever home".

Ms Hawes said she was not nervous about selling because of how well the market had been doing, but did not expect the first and only offer would come through before the home was even listed online.

Fear of missing out motivates buyers

Coulson & Co Real Estate, which sold the couple's home, primarily services the Kwinana and Rockingham areas and has recorded a huge increase in business in the last year.

Owner Michael Coulson said around 18 months ago, his agency was selling about five properties per month, but that had now more than doubled to 10 to 14.

He said the attitude of buyers had also shifted dramatically.

"What we're noticing is the change in mentality, [it] has gone from 'what's the least the sellers will take?' to 'how much do we have to pay to get this property?'" he said.

"I think there's a lot of fear of missing out now, certainly from the buyer side."

Mr Coulson said that was clear as more and more often properties were being sold to buyers on their database before they were published online.

The increase in value was leading to a discrepancy between property valuers and agents, he said, because agents were working to the current market whereas valuers dealt with historical evidence.

"The value is going off of results from two to three months ago, which are properties that may have sold four to five months ago," he said, noting buyers were prepared to pay much more.

Buyer urgency drives market

Several other real estate agents shared similar experiences, with urgency among buyers being a major factor.

Real estate sales coordinator at The Agency, Marcia Burke, said properties were being sold almost as soon as they were listed and prices were "way over" what was expected.

She said one of her most successful properties, which had undergone minor renovations, attracted 15 buyers and recently sold for $850,000, after being purchased just four years earlier for $700,000.

Ms Burke said since the five-day shutdown in the Perth, Peel and South-West regions, properties were selling even quicker, with some interstate buyers purchasing blind.

Her patch largely focussed on Duncraig in Perth's north, and she said on average, houses were selling for $30,000-50,000 more than what they previously would have.

She said in 2014 when the market was "crazy", they would receive multiple offers, something that drove prices up — and the same was happening now.

Kwinana, Mandurah, Belmont top price increases

Property values in Kwinana rose by 10.8 per cent in 12 months, while Mandurah, Belmont and Victoria Park all recorded a growth rate above 8 per cent, CoreLogic's head of research Tim Lawless said.

Mr Lawless said typically "affordable" areas were seeing the biggest increase in house prices across WA as the state's housing market clocked its biggest growth rate since the mining boom in mid-2014.

Fifth on the list was one of Perth's most expensive suburbs, Cottesloe, where house values rose by 7.3 per cent in the last year.

But Mr Lawless said housing affordability in Perth was still quite healthy in comparison to other capital cities.

"We're still seeing housing values in Perth about 17 per cent lower than when they peaked back in the middle of 2014," he said.

"Even though we're seeing values rising quite quickly now, in dollar-value terms, we're seeing homes roughly at the same level value-wise is what they were in late 2006, early 2007."

Despite sizeable growth in value in Kwinana, he said property prices were still around 20 per cent below what they were during the 2014 peak.

"But if we do see housing values continuing along this rapid growth trend, then no doubt, we will start to see some affordability challenges," Mr Lawless said.

The data from CoreLogic was part of a nationwide analysis which revealed Australian house prices had posted their sharpest monthly increase since August 2003, with every capital city posting an increase as well as some regional markets.

The report also found an extreme disparity in rental markets across the country, with rental conditions very tight in both Perth and Darwin.

It found rental growth for houses and units was above 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, WA's peak real estate body reported sale listings in Perth stooped to a 10-year low in February, with less than 8,000 properties listed on their website.

It was the seventh month in a row sale listings declined in Perth, according to REIWA.

Its data also showed the median sale price in Perth in February stood at $490,000.