Total property listings increased in July

Key points

• National residential property listings increased in July by 3.8% from 301,140 listings in June 2020 to 312,680. Compared to 12 months ago, listings were down by 1.2%.
• Nearly all capital cities experienced increases in property listings over the month except for Darwin which recorded a 1.4% decrease.
• There was an increase in new listings of 18.3% with 67,867 new listings added to the market over the course of July.
• Capital City average asking prices decreased by 0.2% for houses and 0.8% for units, over the month to 4 August 2020. Average unit asking prices are now at $565,800 and houses $983,900.
• Compared to a year ago, the capital city asking prices posted increases of 7.0% for houses but small decline of 0.1% for units.

Figures released yesterday by SQM Research reveal national residential property listings increased in July by 3.8% from 301,140 listings in June 2020 to 312,680. Compared to 12 months ago, listings were down by 1.2%.

Nearly all capital cities experienced increases in property listings over the month except for Darwin which recorded a 1.4% decrease.

The largest listings increase was in Sydney at 8.7% followed by Canberra with 6.4%.  Melbourne and Brisbane both recorded a 5.9% increase. Adelaide and Perth experienced smaller increases of 2.4% and 3.2% respectively.

Year-on-year listings show more significant increases in Sydney and Melbourne at 10.7% and 20.7% respectively.  All other capital cities recorded declines over the 12 months. Darwin especially recorded high declines of 21.4% and Hobart declined by 10.0%.

 

 

Commentary

Louis Christopher, Managing Director of SQM Research said, “It is somewhat abnormal to record a rise in listings during the winter months. Normally, falls are recorded. This could have been generated by the lifting in restrictions over May and June, enticing sellers to the market. The year on year results for Sydney and Melbourne tell the story with significant rises, particularly for Melbourne.  Such a reading normally is associated with a weakening market and no question, this is what is occurring in our two largest cities. Dwelling prices are falling. Not crashing to date, per se. But in light of the unprecedented restrictions placed in Melbourne, our expectations are that more prices falls in can be expected in coming months.  Outside the two capital cities, the market is more balanced and indeed we are seeing an increase in demand for housing across regional Australia.”

 

 

Asking prices

Capital City average asking prices decreased by 0.2% for houses and 0.8% for units, over the month to 4 August. Average unit asking prices are now at $565,800 and houses $983,900.

Compared to a year ago, the capital city asking prices posted an increase of 7.0% for houses but a 0.1% decrease for units.

Over the month, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Hobart all recorded marginal asking price decreases in both houses and units, with Sydney recording the highest decline in unit asking prices of 1.0% and Canberra recording the highest decline in house prices of 2.0%.  However, Canberra’s asking prices for units increased by 0.6%, as did Darwin with a 1.0% increase.  Perth’s unit prices declined by 0.1% and house prices remained stable.

Brisbane was the only capital city to record increases in house prices of 0.3%.

Year on year, most capital cities were recording significant increases in house and unit asking prices with the exception of Darwin which experienced declines in house and unit prices of 3.1% and 2.2% respectively. Sydney and Melbourne recorded 9.0% increase in house price growth as did Hobart with large increases of 11.5% in house prices and 21.7% in unit prices.