You know things are tough in the property market when a seasoned real estate agent sells his own family home and chooses to rent instead.

Key points: Real estate agents say the Perth property market remains very depressed

Real estate agents say the Perth property market remains very depressed They advise investors to enter it with a 20- to 30-year timeframe in mind

They advise investors to enter it with a 20- to 30-year timeframe in mind Recent increases in rental demand however are offering a glimmer of hope

Greg Rossen has been selling homes in Perth's wealthy western suburbs for decades, but even he doesn't have the confidence to invest in housing at the moment.

And he can't see it getting better anytime soon.

"No-one can predict the future, but for my own self I have sold out of the market and I am renting a family property because I don't see any light on the horizon," he said.

"Investors need to be mindful of where they think the cycle is and make up their own mind.

"But there is a body of thought, that I subscribe to, that conditions are not good and I believe they could well get worse."

Almost five per cent of all properties listed for sale in Perth are in the Rockingham/Baldivis area. ( ABC News: Elicia Kennedy )

Tenant vacancies paint a poor picture

After strong price rises across 12 suburbs — largely at the premium end of Perth's property market — the Real Estate Institute of WA recently claimed "aspirational suburbs are really leading the way in the property market's recovery".

But Mr Rossen takes a less bullish view.

Perth real estate agent Greg Rossen says he doesn't see any light on the horizon in the city's property market. ( ABC News: West Matteeussen )

"It's lovely to quote certain suburbs where you have what appears to be an increase in price, but in reality, if we look at the total metropolitan market, those are almost anecdotal," he said.

"We are coming off a low base so statistics can lie and they need to be very closely looked at."

Mr Rossen said those price rises were attributable to "pent-up" demand but the broader market "is generally in a bad condition".

He noted that while prices in Nedlands have risen 15 per cent over the past year, he recently re-sold three properties in the area for 10 per cent less than he sold the same houses for a decade ago.

He said a "devastation" in commercial rents as well as tenant vacancies in both the residential and retail sector continued to point to poor market conditions.

Taking a long-term view

According to property data firm CoreLogic, house prices across the Perth metropolitan area have dropped in real terms by 24 per cent over the past 10 years.

Such statistics contradict many buyers' expectations that their house price will double in price every decade.

"Real estate has never been a short-term investment, it's always been a long-term investment — long-term I am talking 20, 30 years," LJ Hooker Rockingham Baldivis director Paul Baird-Murray said.

Paul Baird-Murray says many investors are unrealistic in their expectations from the property market. ( ABC News: Elicia Kennedy )

He said the area south of Perth in which he worked was currently saturated with properties for sale, the majority of which were bought as investments.

"A lot of buyers that buy into property don't understand the real estate cycles," Mr Baird-Murray said.

"Some of them have actually said 'but I thought rents just kept going up, I thought property prices would just continue.'"

Panic among investors

Many investors were now panicking because they were under financial strain or feared further market falls.

But Mr Baird-Murray said they were unrealistic about the value of their property in the crowded market.

Local resident Steph Moses said ongoing land development in the area was exacerbating the problem.

She and husband Daniel have an investment property in Port Kennedy, between Perth and the regional city of Mandurah.

They had intended to keep the property for the long term, but were recently forced to list it for sale.

Steph Moses has struggled to sell her investment property in Port Kennedy. ( ABC News: Elicia Kennedy )

"I was given the diagnosis that I had stage four cancer so we had to change a lot of things," Mrs Moses said.

"I have had to stop work because of my illness."

The only offer they have had on the property was $70,000 less than they paid for it.

"If you want to build a house, you get $10,000-$15,000 for building a new home, so there is no incentive for the first-home buyers market to buy an established property," Mrs Moses said.

Glimmer of hope for rentals

REA Group chief economist Nerida Conisbee said there were positive signs in the Perth market.

After a four-year decline, rental demand for Perth properties has jumped 20 per cent on the back of interstate interest, particularly from Queensland.

"It's really reflective of the jobs growth," Ms Conisbee said.

"You know when people move to a city they typically rent first before buying, and it is a good indicator of what is to come."