Homebuyers are being urged to take advantage of Perth’s low house prices after figures revealed prices had increased in the final months of last year.

The latest data from the Real Estate Institute of WA showed Perth’s median house price increased by almost 2 per cent in the three months to December to $535,000.

REIWA president Hayden Groves said transactional activity reached a “remarkable” 30-year low in August, but the new figures indicated buyer confidence was recovering.

“Buyers are punting that we’re either at the bottom of the market, and if we’re not at the bottom then we are very close to it,” he said.

“Confidence is starting to emerge. That’s why we’re seeing this upward pressure on price.

“I think it’s up from here — I don’t think it will be a spectacular up, but it will be a more optimistic and positive year in 2017.”

Mr Groves said sales in the lower price bracket had dominated the market in the past three years but he predicted that trend would change.

He said he expected to see a slight increase in sales in Perth’s premium suburbs.

“I imagine that the composition of the market will show that there will be more properties sold in the higher price brackets in 2017,” he said.

“I don’t think it will happen immediately, but certainly we will see that happen in a gradual way.

“Family units are starting to see the value in the blue ribbon suburbs ... Claremont, Crawley, Dalkeith, Nedlands — there are some genuinely very good buys in those areas.”

Scarborough, which recorded a median house price of $621,000 in the last quarter, is on Mr Groves’ list of Perth suburbs to watch over the next 12 months.

Works to the Scarborough beach foreshore made the beachside suburb a popular choice last year, with 342 sales recorded.

It was topped only by Baldivis, which had 430 sales.

Also on Mr Groves’ radar is Forrestfield, with the Forrestfield-Airport Link under construction, and Burswood with the new Perth Stadium due to open by early next year.

Subiaco was also good value, Mr Groves said.

“Subiaco’s commercial sector has been under significant pressure in recent times and that’s created downward pressure on the residential values through there,” he said.

Mr Groves said he expected Kalamunda to be popular with first-homebuyers who want an established home and “don’t want to join the treeless urban sprawl” of the city.

South of the river, Mr Groves said Kensington and South Perth were suburbs to watch.

“Kensington is that area that’s close to Curtin University ... and it’s gentrified over time as well,” he said. “South Perth has been flat for the past couple of years. There hasn’t been a lot of redevelopment around there.

“I think those areas have been overlooked for the past two years, but they tick a lot of boxes in terms of proximity to the city, to the river and are close to transport links.”