• National residential property listings fell in June 2022 by 1% to 221,572 from 223,859 in May. Compared to 12 months ago, listings dropped 6.2%.
• Nationally, new listings (Less than 30 days) fell 5.4% over June, with 70,885 new properties added onto the market. New listings are down 2.1% over the year. Old listings rose 1.6% in June and were down by 31.1% over the year.
• National combined dwelling asking prices rose 0.3% over the month, however capital city asking prices fell 1.9% over the same period.
• Distressed property listings rose by 4.5% over the month of June.

Figures released by SQM Research reveal national residential property listings fell in June 2022 by 1% to 221,571 properties, down from 223,859 in May.

The largest monthly falls in property listings were in Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne of 3.9%, 2.1% and 3.7%. Compared to 12 months ago, listings fell by 6.2%, with large declines recorded in Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra of 17.5%, 20.6% and 8.3% respectively.

Nationally, new listings (Less than 30 days) fell 2.1% over June 2022 to 70,885 properties on the market, to be down 2.1% over the year. Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth recorded the largest falls in new listings for the month, down by 14.4%, 9.4%, 8.4% and 7.5%. Over the year, new listings rose the most in Hobart by 38.5% and fell the most in Canberra and Sydney by 14.9% and 13.9%.

Property listings over 180 days rose by 1.6% in June 2022. However, Canberra recorded a significant increase of 14.6%. While Darwin, Hobart and Adelaide recorded a decrease of 19.6%, 10.3% and 10%.

Louis Christopher, Managing Director of SQM Research said: “Overall stock on market fell for the month largely due to the decline in new listings. The fall in new listings was a result of reduced vendor confidence in the strength of the housing market as well as seasonal factors whereby the winter period normally records a decline in residential property sales activity, particularly for Sydney and Melbourne.

However, older listings rose. This reveals the slowdown in the housing market driven by lower buyer demand. Going forward we expect July to record similar trends of lacklustre activity and more rises in older listings.

At this stage we can safely state there is no panic in the market. The downturn remains orderly, but it is evident from SQM’s asking prices series vendors are adjusting their market expectations down, particularly for the Sydney housing market. Meanwhile cities still recording strength include Adelaide and to a lesser extent, Brisbane, and Canberra. All other cities are now showing signs of weakening.”

Distressed listings on the rise

As part of yesteday’s release SQM Research notes that as of 29 June, 2022 there were 6,014 residential properties nationwide selling under distressed conditions. This was up from 5,753 distressed listings recorded on 31 May 2022. On 30 June 2021 there were 7,656 properties selling under distressed conditions.

It is estimated prior to Covid (January 2020), distressed listing counts were approximately 15,000 listings nationwide. With interest rate cuts, relief provided to borrowers by the banking sector and massive government stimulus, the counts of distressed listings fell significantly over the Covid period.

However, since April 2022, the count of distressed property listings on the market has risen. The count reached a low of 5,500 distressed properties on the market back on the 5th of April 2022.

Louis Christopher, Managing Director of SQM Research said: “As can be seen, Queensland has the highest number of distressed listings, however we note this is not something new or something to be particularly concerned about as ever since we have been tracking distressed listings, Queensland, particularly Southeast Queensland has always had higher counts compared to other regions around the country.

Going forward, with ongoing rises in interest rates and the end of the Covid relief period within the banking sector, I expect to see distressed listings activity return to levels recorded prior to Covid. So, while it’s likely we will keep reporting rises over the next few months, it is not something I would be overly concerned about unless numbers rise well above 15,000 properties. Nevertheless, it is a noteworthy statistic, and we will be providing further insights into distressed property activity including abnormal areas of concentration as they arise.”

A distressed residential property listing occurs when a property must be sold quickly. Distressed property sales often result in a financial loss for the seller who must accept a lower price than would normally be the case.

SQM Research includes over 40 key terms can be searched via online listings and are provided within the property advertisement. They include among others:

• Mortgagee in possession
• Bank forced sale
• Divorce
• Forced property sale
• Desperate vendor
• Selling below cost/value
• Deceased estate
• Must sell
• Price slashed
• Liquidation
• Fire Sale
• Urgent
• Price reduction
• Motivated vendor
• Priced to sell

In terms of the highest key words currently used across the country, they include:

• “Price reduced” – 1,442 listings
• “Priced to sell” – 1,426 listings
• “Motivated seller” – 1,046 listings
• “Make an offer” – 727 listings
• “Bargain” – 582 listings
• “Mortgagee in possession/Bank forced sale” – 260 listings

The largest concentrations of distressed sales have been occurring on Queensland’s Gold Coast with approximately 315 residential properties selling under distressed conditions. This was followed by Central Coast, Western Australia with 201 listings. Third was the Sunshine Coast with 185 distressed listings.

Asking prices

Over the month to 1 July 2022, national asking prices rose by 0.3% for combined dwellings. Over the year, strong growth in national asking house prices of 18.6% was posted while asking unit prices rose 16.7%. SQM Research expects these annual numbers to reduce as the housing downturn progresses.

Capital city asking house prices fell 2.3% over the month to 1 July 2022, while unit prices rose 0.6%. Over the year, house asking prices in capital cities rose 11.1% and unit prices rose 5.5%.

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