The impact of rising petrol prices could have the greatest impact on the Perth housing market with a new ABS Report showing that Perth drivers on average travel the longer number of kilometres of any capital city motorists in Australia.

The ABS survey of Motor Vehicle use released this month shows that Perth drivers on average drove 13,000 kilometres for the twelve months ending 31 October 2004.

This was higher than the Australian average of 12,200 kilometres and much higher than other regional capital cities such as Adelaide where the average motorist drove 10,600.

With the price of petrol now expected to rise above $1.50 per litre, there will be even greater financial pressure on Perth families. This rising cost of fuel will make inner city areas that have good public transport links to the inner city more attractive to homebuyers.

Properties which are close to main bus routes are proving more popular with homebuyer and also properties which are within walking distance to the city centre. Townhouses, which for many years where overlooked by homebuyers, are now very much in demand. In addition, there is also strong demand for larger size villas and renovated federation style homes.