Key points
- National residential property listings fell in May 2022 by 2.2% to 223,859 from 228,901 in April. Compared to 12 months ago, listings dropped 9%.
- Nationally, new listings (Less than 30 days) fell 5.9% over May, with 74,902 new properties added onto the market. New listings are down 6% over the year. Old listings rose 0.9% in May and were down by 36.3% over the year.
- National house asking prices rose 18.9% over the year to 6 June 2022, while unit prices rose 16.7%.
Figures released yesterday by SQM Research reveal national residential property listings fell in May 2022 by 2.2% to reach 223,859 properties, down from 228,901 in April.
The largest monthly falls in property listings were in Canberra, Adelaide, and Perth of 5.7%, 5.1% and 2.5%. Compared to 12 months ago, listings fell by 9%, with large declines recorded in Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra of 22.1%, 21.9% and 18%.
Total listings
Nationally, new listings (Less than 30 days) fell 5.9% over May 2022 to 74,902 properties on the market, to be down 6% over the year. Hobart and Canberra recorded the largest falls in new listings for the month, down by 28.2% and 10.6%. Over the year, new listings rose the most in Hobart by 23.7% and fell the most in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney by 19.6%, 14.1% and 13.6%.
Property listings over 180 days rose by 0.9% in May 2022. However, the capital cities of Sydney and Melbourne recorded significant increases of 9.6% and 6.2% respectively. While Hobart recorded a 13.3% increase. A rise in old listings is normally suggestive of impending slower market conditions as vendors increasingly struggle to sell their properties in a reasonable time frame.
Commentary
Louis Christopher, Managing Director of SQM Research said: “Listings fell during the month of May due in large part to the election with many sellers and buyers waiting on the market sidelines for the outcome. A number of properties which were already listed struggled to sell over the month and that pushed up the counts of old listings – a phenomenon that happens during market slowdowns.
Going forward, I expect a surge in new listings for this current month, even while we have now reached the quieter winter months. SQM Research has recorded a surge in new auction listings, hence why we have this view. Our overall outlook for the market remains unchanged in that we expect price falls of up to 8% this year for Melbourne and Sydney and low net single digit growth for the other cities.”
Asking prices
Over the month to 6 June 2022, national asking prices rose by 1.4% for houses and jumped 1.6%% for units. Over the year, strong growth in national asking house prices of 18.9% was posted while asking unit prices rose 16.7% over the year.
Capital city asking house prices rose 0.6% over the month to 6 June 2022, while unit prices rose 0.3%. Over the year, house asking prices in capital cities rose 16.9% and unit prices rose 7.1% over the year.
