The confidence of the property sector in Western Australia has continued in its downward trend in the March quarter of 2015.

The ANZ/Property Council Survey index for WA has dropped to 113 from 115 in the March quarter 2015. WA’s confidence is down 22 index points over the past 12 months.

The Australia-wide property confidence index decreased from 135 to 132 in the March quarter.

Property Council of Australia Executive Director Joe Lenzo said “the dip in WA property sector confidence follows a downward trend, with confidence steadily decreasing since June 2013.”

 “The WA property sector is still adjusting after record high levels of business confidence within the last two years, when the resources sector was at peak performance along with population growth.”

The survey found that the main causes for lower confidence in the industry are weaker expectations for house price growth, and commercial office and industrial capital growth in the March quarter. In contrast, the capital growth expectations for retail, retirement villages and hotels have strengthened.

“WA is in the middle of a major shopping centre expansion phase and these results indicate that the industry is confident that this will continue” said Mr Lenzo.

“With a number of new hotels and redevelopments underway in WA, this is a strong area of performance for the state in this quarter.

“Despite the lower confidence in the broader industry currently, there are signs of confidence for the future with increased forward work and staffing expectations.”