Listings Surge as Market Readies for Spring Sales

Australian home listings have surged as the market readies for the traditional spring selling season, the latest data shows.

National residential property listings rose by 7.9 per cent during August compared with the previous month, according to SQM, bringing the total to 249,523 properties.

Year-on-year, total national property listings are up by 11.1 per cent.

Sydney experienced the most significant monthly increase, with listings rising by 14.7 per cent, bringing the total to 33,790 residential properties for sale.

This was a considerable jump from 2023 levels, SQM said, marking a yearly increase of 20.2 per cent.

Melbourne also recorded a notable monthly increase of 12.2 per cent, with total listings climbing to 41,729.

The Victorian capital continued to reveal very large yearly listing increases, with a 22.8 per cent rise in properties for sale compared with August last year, the data showed.

Perth had a 10.6 per cent monthly increase, reaching 13,078 properties, however, it remains the only city with a significant yearly decrease, dropping by 21.6 per cent from last August.

Canberra and Adelaide showed solid monthly growth in listings, with increases of 10.7 per cent and 9.1 per cent respectively.

Canberra experienced the largest yearly increase of all major cities at 31.7 per cent, with listings rising to 4241 properties.

Brisbane reported a moderate monthly rise of 7.3 per cent, bringing the total to 18,224 listings.

Nationally, new listings [less than 30 days] recorded an 11.8 per cent increase in August 2024, reaching 73,665 properties, up from 65,863 in July of this year.

Compared with August 2023, there was an 8.5 per cent rise in new listings across the country.

Total property listings, August 2024

▲ Source: SQM Research

Asking prices nationally increased slightly for the month. Houses were up by 0.3 per cent, and units by 0.4 per cent.

The combined national change was a modest 0.3 per cent. The average asking price across all capital cities showed a 0.6 per cent lift.

Sydney and Melbourne’s asking prices were steady while Brisbane stood out with a 2.3 per cent increase for houses.

Perth’s housing market is continuing to record significant growth, with a 2.8 per cent increase for houses and 0.5 per cent for units. The overall combined increase for Perth is 2.5 per cent, reflecting robust demand.

Adelaide houses rose by 2.1 per cent over the month while the combined change for the city was 2 per cent.

Canberra’s housing market is under pressure, with a significant 2.6 per cent drop in house prices.

The combined asking price has sunk 1.9 per cent, marking one of the largest declines among the capitals.

Hobart presents a mixed picture with a small increase of 0.8 per cent in house prices, while unit prices dropped significantly by 2.8 per cent.  

Older listings [properties listed for more than 180 days] recorded an 8.4 per cent increase for the past month, with 72,084 properties.

Most cities had an uptick in older stock during the month, with Canberra leading the charge with a 10.1 per cent increase, followed by Hobart with a 14.1 per cent rise, and Sydney with an 8.7 per cent increase.