Rockingham appears to be following the Perth trend of embracing apartment living, with a new high-end block of units being scooped up by the region’s residents.

A recent survey conducted by the Western Australian Apartment Advocacy saw 93 per cent back an increase in the number of apartments as the State capital’s population grows.

The Azure Beachside Apartments complex will be based on Flinders Street in Rockingham, with Blackburne property developers to start construction in May.

Managing director Paul Blackburne said his company had sold 45 per cent of the available units, with it expected 60 per cent will be gone by Christmas.

“Ninety per cent of the buyers are local owner occupiers,” he said.

“The percentage of people living in apartments in WA is now about 15 per cent. As we become a bigger city this will increase – I think this will double over the next 15-20 years.

“If you look forward five or ten years, I think we will see really good growth in the Rockingham area.”

Azure purchasers include Julie Blogg and her parents Eric and Gladys, with the extended family set to live next door to one another.

“I want to get away from the maintenance and the gardening,” Ms Blogg said.

“I wanted to live somewhere in the thick of it. You have the cafes, the beach and the parks really close.

“We currently all live in Kwinana. We are five minutes apart but soon we will be five metres apart.”

Real Estate Institute of Western Australia president Hayden Groves said the median price of apartments in Rockingham had fallen from $330,000 to $295,000 in the last 12 months.

“Apartment living is a relatively new phenomenon for Perth – we’ve always had them but we haven’t had apartments that deliver a genuine lifestyle opportunity,” he said.

“Apartments in the greater Rockingham area are offering people some pretty cost-effective way of getting into property.

“By having higher-density apartment living it gives people an opportunity to live right in the Rockingham CBD – apartment living in Rockingham could go really well.”