PICTURES: Just $82 will buy you a slice of this Perth house

BrickX’s house in Kensington, Perth. (Image: BrickX)

A Perth house is going on sale, with investors able to buy a small bit of it for just $82.

Australian fintech BrickX buys up investment properties and allows investors to purchase a slice of them by dividing it into small units called “Bricks”.

While the idea, dubbed fractional real estate investment, is not new, Sydney-based BrickX took it to retail investors in 2015 at the height of Australia’s property boom when many ordinary folks were priced out of the market.

The startup already has properties in Sydney, Melbourne, Ballarat and Adelaide — but this is the first time it has ventured into the Perth market.

“It’s no secret that the Perth property market has been slow over the last four years, however our property team believes that the Perth house market is approaching the bottom of the property cycle,” said BrickX founder Markus Kahlbetzer.

BrickX’s house in Kensington, Perth. (Image: BrickX)

BrickX’s house in Kensington, Perth. (Image: BrickX)

The brick house in Kensington, just 3km south of downtown Perth, has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Pre-orders will open for one week from 1pm Tuesday February 19 with BrickX waiving the purchase fee during that period.

REA Group chief economist and BrickX property team member Nerida Conisbee said inner and beach suburbs were leading the recovery out of the bottom of the price cycle in Perth.

“We are currently seeing growth in rental demand from Perth on realestate.com.au, likely driven by jobs growth. While the Perth market has been tough, this uptick reflects a positive change for the housing market and it is likely we will see recovery in the market over the next two years,” she said.

BrickX’s house in Kensington, Perth. (Image: BrickX)

Once an investor owns Bricks, they can be bought and sold on a secondary market for liquidity. BrickX takes a 1.75 per cent transaction fee on any of those transactions.

While the concept has allowed younger demographics to get into the property market, the falling prices across Australia in the past year has put BrickX investments under pressure. The current secondary market shows only four of the 18 properties that are returning lowest available Brick values higher than the valuation.

In 2017, as the real estate market peaked, BrickX made headlines for offering a Sydney apartment for just $57.

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