Winter Lull Drives 8.3pc Decline in Home Listings

Home listings across all capitals last month plunged like the temperature as a winter lull chilled the market.

According to data from SQM Research, June recorded an 8.3 per cent decrease in nationwide residential property listings.

A total of 231,799 properties came to market, substantially down from the 252,757 recorded in May.

Adelaide recorded the largest monthly decrease, falling 15.4 per cent. Melbourne and Perth followed, both down 11.9 per cent, and Perth also recorded the largest yearly decrease—32.2 per cent.

Darwin’s decrease at 1.3 per cent was June’s smallest.

Year-on-year there were 0.7 per cent more listings nationally.

Sydney and Melbourne recorded 7.8 per cent and 12.4 per cent more listings compared to this time last year respectively, while Adelaide and Perth reported 12-month decreases of 24.3 per cent and 32.2 per cent.

Brisbane also recorded a decrease, 12.5 per cent, while Darwin listings declined 7.5 per cent.

Canberra posted a remarkable 22.1 per cent increase, while Hobart had an 8.8 per cent rise.

Nationally, new listings (less than 30 days) fell by 13.3 per cent in June, totalling 65,190 properties, which was down from 75,174 in May.

Older listings (properties listed for more than 180 days) recorded a 6.6 per cent decrease, totalling 68,109 properties.

Most cities had a reduction in older stock with Brisbane, Canberra, and Sydney experiencing significant decreases of 14.1 per cent, 11 per cent, and 10.1 per cent respectively.

Total property listings

▲ Source: SQM

Compared to last June, Perth had a substantial 58.1 per cent decrease, while Brisbane, Adelaide, and Melbourne also recorded annual declines in older listings.

Despite these decreases, the overall trend showed a slight increase in older property listings nationally during the past year, with a 3.5 per cent rise.

This trend suggests a housing market that is slowing, but SQM said it had “no significant concerns about the total number of older listings on the market at this time”.

Residential properties sold under distressed conditions in Australia slightly increased to 5111, a 0.2 per cent rise from the previous month.

SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said that after the surge in listings during May, the market had reversed course.

“This is the standard winter lull effect we see in the Australian housing market at this time of year, so there’s no great surprise in these numbers,” he said.

“That said, some cities are recording some very large year-on-year decline in listings, namely Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.

“In each of these cities, vendors have the upper hand right now in terms of negotiations.

“We can see this when measuring asking prices as in each of these three cities—vendors seem to have free rein right now in lifting their for-sale prices.

“While the housing market may be slowing in Sydney and Melbourne, the same cannot be said for these three cities.”