Subiaco, WA 6008Home loan and property guide

Subiaco location and character

Subiaco lies approximately 3 km west of the Perth CBD, with West Perth across Thomas Street to the east and Kings Park to the south-east, and it is the principal suburb of the City of Subiaco. The City records that Benedictine monks settled in the area in 1851 and named their monastery New Subiaco, and that the name passed to a railway station when the Perth to Fremantle line opened in 1881.

The town centre runs along Rokeby Road and Hay Street, which the City manages as a designated heritage area, and several residential streets are heritage areas as well. DevelopmentWA describes Subi Centro, launched after a redevelopment authority was formed in 1994, as a mix of parklands, townhouses and commercial precincts created around a rail tunnel completed in 1998. In the north-east, the Subi East project takes in Subiaco Oval and the former Princess Margaret Hospital site.

Transport and amenity in Subiaco

Subiaco Station, which DevelopmentWA describes as Perth's first underground station, is served by the Transperth Fremantle Line and by Airport Line trains that run through central Perth to Claremont, giving direct services to the city, Fremantle and Perth Airport. West Leederville Station, on the same two lines, stands at the edge of the Subi East area, and the state government's statement on that project refers to bus routes along Roberts Road, Hay Street and Thomas Street.

King Edward Memorial Hospital operates on Bagot Road and St John of God Subiaco Hospital, a licensed private hospital, on Salvado Road. The state's New Women and Babies Hospital Project will replace King Edward Memorial Hospital with a new hospital in the Fiona Stanley Hospital precinct at Murdoch, which the project page expects to open in 2029. The same page states that the future use of the Subiaco site will then be a decision for the state government.

Government schools within the suburb include Subiaco Primary School, Bob Hawke College and Perth Modern School. The City operates Lords Recreation Centre, with indoor courts, a gym and a pool, together with the Subiaco Library and the Subiaco Museum. DevelopmentWA states that the Subiaco Oval playing surface has reopened for public use alongside a playground and an open-air museum. Shops and services are concentrated along Rokeby Road and Hay Street.

Housing stock in Subiaco

The older streets were largely built between the 1890s and the 1920s. The City's heritage area policies describe mostly single-storey houses on narrow lots, the majority with brick walls that were originally tuck-pointed or face brick, a smaller number with timber frames and weatherboard cladding, and roofs mainly of corrugated metal. Inspections of houses of this age commonly report rising damp, deteriorated mortar, ageing roof sheeting, old wiring and timber pest damage.

Subi Centro added townhouses and other new homes from the late 1990s, and by the 2021 Census apartments outnumbered separate houses across the suburb. The next stage of supply is at Subi East. A state government statement of 4 March 2026 invited offers from developers for the first two apartment sites on the former hospital land, in a precinct planned as six high-density sites with retained heritage buildings. Detached houses on full-sized lots without heritage considerations are comparatively scarce.

Who lives and buys in Subiaco

The 2021 Census counted 9,940 residents in Subiaco, with a median age of 40 against 38 for Australia and an average household size of 2.1 compared with 2.5 nationally. Of 4,482 occupied private dwellings, 1,869 were flats or apartments, 1,738 were separate houses and 863 were semi-detached, terrace or townhouse dwellings. Apartments therefore made up 41.7 per cent of occupied homes and houses 38.8 per cent, against national shares of 14.2 per cent and 72.3 per cent. None of the apartments was in a block of nine or more storeys.

Renting is the most common tenure. The Census recorded 2,018 rented dwellings, 1,287 owned outright and 1,080 owned with a mortgage, so 45.3 per cent of households with a stated tenure were renting, compared with 30.6 per cent across Australia, and 28.9 per cent owned outright. Median weekly household income was $2,219 against $1,746 nationally, median weekly rent was $438 against $375, and median monthly mortgage repayments were $2,498 against $1,863. Two-bedroom dwellings were the most common size at 1,472 homes, closely followed by three-bedroom dwellings at 1,442.

For a buyer, the figures describe small, relatively high-income households and a limited stock contested by investors, downsizers, upgraders and established owners. The largest age group was 25 to 34 years, with 1,830 residents, which is consistent with a deep rental market for apartments close to the hospitals and the city, while the high share of outright ownership points to long-held houses. The 610 private dwellings recorded as unoccupied on Census night may reflect homes between tenancies or held for occasional use.

Planning, heritage and risks in Subiaco

Most development is controlled by the City of Subiaco Local Planning Scheme No. 5, gazetted on 21 February 2020. The City keeps a Heritage List under the scheme and has designated heritage areas, each with its own local planning policy, among them Rokeby Road and Hay Street, Kershaw Street, Duke Street, Kings Road and Park Street. The City states that listing does not prohibit development, but changes are expected to respect the heritage values of the place.

The City notes that portions of Subi Centro and Subi East are governed by the Subiaco Redevelopment Scheme 2, administered by DevelopmentWA, which leads Subi East under a master plan approved in October 2020 and estimates a delivery period of around 20 years. The City has also been reviewing the Subiaco Activity Centre Plan, approved in November 2017, which guides development in the town centre, so building heights and land uses near a property can change.

The Map of Bush Fire Prone Areas, in force in its latest form from 13 December 2025, designates a small area at the south-eastern edge of the suburb beside the Kings Park bushland, where additional planning and building requirements may apply. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation floodplain mapping for the Swan River does not extend to Subiaco. State Planning Policy 5.4 maps the passenger railway and major traffic routes as transport noise corridors.

Buying in Subiaco: offers, heritage checks and strata disclosure

Most private sales in Western Australia are made on an offer and acceptance form. Consumer Protection WA explains that the form becomes binding once both parties have agreed all terms and signed, that there is no mandatory cooling-off period and that the state has no mandatory seller disclosure statement. For a century-old Subiaco house, the buyer therefore relies on conditions written into the offer, typically finance approval and building and timber pest inspections, and on checking the City's heritage database before committing. Any deposit is normally held in trust until settlement, when title documents are exchanged and the balance is paid.

Landgate states that the seller of a strata lot must give the buyer a precontractual disclosure statement before the contract is signed, and that a failure to do so can allow the buyer to delay settlement or avoid the contract. RevenueWA assesses transfer duty, and the state's 2026-27 housing taxation package raised the thresholds for the first home owner rate of duty from 7 May 2026 and extended an off-the-plan duty concession to 30 June 2028. Other upfront costs include settlement agent and registration fees, and the stamp duty calculator on this site gives a general estimate.

Home loan considerations for Subiaco property

Lenders generally accept period houses in Subiaco as standard security, including those on the Heritage List or within a heritage area. Valuers take account of restrictions on alteration, the condition of original fabric and the standard of any extension, and comparable sales can be hard to find for unusual or very narrow lots. A buyer relying on a high loan-to-value ratio may wish to allow for a valuation below the agreed price. Where the deposit is small, lenders mortgage insurance is likely to apply.

For apartments, some lenders set minimum internal floor areas, limit their exposure to a single building or apply lower maximum loan-to-value ratios to high-density and mixed-use buildings. Strata levies are counted in serviceability assessments and reduce borrowing power, and Landgate notes that strata companies with ten or more lots must keep a ten-year maintenance plan and a reserve fund. For off-the-plan purchases at Subi East, finance is usually reassessed close to settlement, when the valuation and the buyer's circumstances may have changed.

Lending considerations for Subiaco

• Heritage List entries and heritage areas can restrict alterations, and valuers factor those limits and likely repair costs into their assessments.
• Western Australian contracts carry no mandatory cooling-off period, so finance and inspection conditions need to be written into the offer itself.
• Narrow-lot period houses have few close comparables, so a valuation below the contract price is possible for buyers with small deposits.
• Some lenders restrict small apartments, mixed-use buildings or their total exposure to one building, which can lower the maximum loan available.
• Strata levies, the ten-year maintenance plan and the reserve fund balance affect both valuation and serviceability for apartments and townhouses.
• Off-the-plan apartments at Subi East would be valued and assessed again near settlement, so an early approval is not a guarantee of finance.

Lender policy differs between institutions and changes over time. The guide to Australian lenders explains how credit policy varies, and the home loan guide sets out the main loan structures.