For years, Perth's apartment and medium-density construction market has been concentrated in a handful of well-established locations. While many emerging growth areas can offer land, few can offer a strategic metropolitan centre, an established City Centre, a major beachfront, rail connectivity and proximity to nationally significant defence and industrial investment.
Rockingham combines all five within a single centre, yet it has remained largely overlooked as a destination for higher-density residential development.
The approval of the Rockingham Strategic Centre Precinct Structure Plan (City Centre Plan) marks a significant step forward for the City Centre. It sets out a clear roadmap for future growth, identifying where housing will be concentrated and how key precincts are expected to evolve. Over time, the Strategic Centre is planned to grow from around 4,000 dwellings today to more than 15,000, supporting a population of approximately 30,000 residents.
For developers, investors and residential builders, the growth represents a significant opportunity, creating a long-term pipeline of apartment, townhouse, mixed-use and medium-density projects.
Rockingham's growth is being driven by more than planning policy alone.
The city sits at the centre of a region being shaped by defence expansion, industrial growth and major infrastructure investment. HMAS Stirling, AUKUS, the Western Trade Coast and future Westport-related activity are helping drive long-term employment growth across Perth’s southern corridor, creating increased demand for housing, services, retail, hospitality, health and education.
Rockingham is evolving beyond its traditional identity as a coastal destination. As one of Perth's designated Strategic Metropolitan Centres, it is expected to play a larger role in accommodating future housing growth, supported by strong employment and investment growth across the region.
A key strength of the City Centre Plan is that future housing growth is being concentrated within a clearly defined City Centre structure. The Waterfront Village, Transit-Orientated (TOD) Village, City Centre and surrounding residential precincts each have a specific role within the broader framework, providing developers, investors and builders with a clearer understanding of where future development is expected to occur.
Along the foreshore, the Waterfront Village is intended to accommodate higher-density residential and mixed-use development, while the TOD Village introduces a dedicated transit-oriented precinct with capacity for at least 1,000 dwellings. The City Centre is expected to support higher-intensity residential and mixed-use outcomes, while surrounding precincts create opportunities for townhouse developments, grouped dwellings and medium-density housing.
The future of Rockingham City Centre will not be shaped by apartment towers alone, but by a broad range of housing products and development typologies, creating opportunities for builders operating across multiple market segments.
The opportunity extends beyond the volume of dwellings planned. It also lies in the certainty now available to the market.
Developers are operating in an environment where construction costs remain elevated, holding costs matter and feasibility margins remain under pressure. In that environment, locations with a clear long-term direction hold a distinct advantage because they make it easier to assess opportunities, allocate capital and plan future projects.
The Precinct Structure Plan does not remove every development challenge. It does, however, provide greater clarity around where growth is expected to occur, how precincts will function and where residential intensity is intended to be concentrated. That clarity helps developers assess opportunities with greater confidence, and construction activity tends to follow investment.
Importantly, the City Centre is not evolving in isolation. Growth is being supported by a combination of economic activity, infrastructure planning, public investment and long-term employment drivers. Together, these factors provide a stronger foundation for growth than planning policy alone.
The City of Rockingham is investing more than $62 million in community, recreation and civic facilities in and around the City Centre through to 2030 to2031, including the redevelopment of the Rockingham Aquatic Centre, upgrades to Mike Barnett Sports Complex and Anniversary Park clubrooms, expansion of the Autumn Centre, the creation of a Rockingham Foreshore activity node and improvements to civic facilities.
The City Centre is also expected to benefit from the State Government's Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF), which has been established to help unlock housing supply by supporting the infrastructure needed to bring development forward.
For developers and investors assessing opportunities in the Rockingham City Centre, infrastructure funding mechanisms such as the IDF help address one of the key challenges confronting growth areas across Australia: ensuring enabling infrastructure keeps pace with housing delivery.
Together, these local and state government investments reinforce the City Centre's role as a place to live, work and invest while strengthening confidence that growth can be supported by the infrastructure required to deliver it.
For residential builders, the opportunity lies in recognising a market that is becoming increasingly relevant within Perth's residential construction landscape.
The most successful builders are often those who recognise emerging markets before they become crowded. By the time a precinct is widely recognised as an investment destination, many of the key relationships, partnerships and opportunities have already formed.
Rockingham City Centre is no longer being discussed solely as a future opportunity. The framework is approved, growth precincts have been identified, significant public investment is being committed and the economic drivers underpinning future demand are becoming difficult to ignore.
Rockingham City Centre is taking shape now. Those who establish a presence early will be well placed to grow alongside one of Western Australia's most significant emerging strategic centres.
