PERTH'S galloping property market is making millionaires out of modest wage-earners and shows no signs of easing as the city's median house price gains on Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
Perth house prices rose 24 per cent in the year to March and it takes just 18 days to sell a home, according to figures released by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia.
Institute vice-president Rob Druitt said the boom was more sustainable than that of the late 1980s because it was underpinned by massive long-term resources projects. House prices had multiplied since 2001 in even the city's cheapest suburbs, in outlying and industrial areas.
"Since the end of 2000 we've had fairly consistent growth that has been gradually gaining pace - the underlying market indicators are there that this is sustainable," Mr Druitt said.
"Perth prices are playing catch-up with the other capitals while some of the states are experiencing dips.
"There's certainly been a lot of West Australians who have gained a lot of wealth because of equity in their property ... there is an enormous amount of wealth being created."
Perth's median house price of $335,000 in December last year was fourth-highest in the nation behind Sydney ($518,000), Melbourne ($375,000) and Canberra ($368,000).
Perth's median house price rose to $353,000 at the end of the March quarter.
The suburb of Calista, near the industrial hub of Kwinana, 42km south of Perth, was among the affordable suburbs that have taken off.
Prices in Calista rose 42.9 per cent in the 12 months to March.
Among those who have benefited are Alison Hewchan, 53, who bought her first home in the area in 2001 and now owns three.
She bought her current home, a renovated 1950s cottage, for $210,000 last October and has been told it is now worth about $310,000.
The modest two-bedroom apartment she bought nearby for $67,000 in 2001 is now worth $230,000.
"It's an amazing story for me, really, because I had to borrow the deposit for my first place from my brother and I didn't think I would do so well," she said.
Ms Hewchan moved to Perth from Adelaide in 1980.
"There's an excitement here, a prosperity here that's not in other places," she said. "It's only going to go forwards."
