Sydney — What links the Japanese monarchy and the property market in Western Australia? Until Monday's announcement of the forthcoming "Reiwa era", not much.

The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia said it had an unexpected surge in traffic to its website -- Reiwa.com -- after the era of emperor Naruhito's rule was named.

Seventy percent of the day's traffic to reiwa.com was from Japan, according to institute spokeswoman Sjanna Sandalova.

In Japanese, "Reiwa" consists of two characters: "Rei", which can have meanings related to "order" but also "auspicious" and "Wa", usually translated as "peace" or "harmony".

For the many residents of Perth, REIWA is synonymous with the hunt for a two-bedroom apartment near the Swan River.

Reiwa.com is hoping that Japan's new era also brings a new era in a market that is shrinking after a decade-long mining-fuelled boom.

"We want to embrace all of this traction and use it as an opportunity to entice migration and foreign investment back into our state," said REIWA chief executive Neville Pozzi. — AFP