First home buyers remain active in the market although their numbers have dropped by more than 50 percent based on figures presented by the Office of State Revenue.

In October, 662 people were first home buyers compared to 1,463 during the same period last year. The decline of first home buyers has not prevented the median price for properties to increase..

President of the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, Alan Bourke, said many first time buyers rushed into the market last year to take advantage of lower interest rates and the government's cash boost, which was withdrawn last December. "The stampede of first home buyers after the introduction of the federal cash boost continued right through until December 2009 when it ended. It helped sell a backlog of oversupplied homes built in 2006 and fired up the construction sector, but now things are much quieter in this section of the market," Bourke said.

According to OSR, the median purchase price for first home buyers in metropolitan Perth during October 2008 when the boost started was $369,000, while in regional WA it was $361,500.

He added: "Interestingly, the median purchase price for first time buyers in the city has grown by US$48,500 since October 2008, but in regional WA it has fallen by US$28,500."

The median first home buyer purchase price across WA in December 2009, just as the Commonwealth boost ended, was US$388,000. It has been above the median price since then and is now US$400,000 as a state-wide measure. The country's top suburbs for first home buyers in 2010 are: Canning Vale, Baldivis, Banksia Grove, Ellenbrook and Butler.