New data shows a lift in housing market activity among sellers, with the number of new listings increasing after a slower start to the year.
The latest PropTrack Listings Report indicates activity is starting to heat up ahead of the usually busy autumn selling season, with would-be buyers enjoying more choice in many parts of Australia.
At a national level, new for-sale listings on realestate.com.au rose by 24.8% month-on-month in February, while in capital cities, they were up by 26.6%.
PropTrack economist Angus Moore, the report’s author, said those in the market for property have more options than they did a year ago.
“The total number of properties listed for sale on realestate.com.au in February was up strongly compared to January, as is typically the case after the slower summer months,” Mr Moore said.
“And compared to a year ago, the total number of homes listed for sale nationally in February was up 9.6% year-on-year.”
Almost all capital cities saw a lift year-on-year in the total number of properties list for sale.
“In both Sydney and Melbourne, the total number of listings in February was around the average over the past decade,” Mr Moore said.
“The increase has been especially stark in Hobart, with nearly twice as many properties for sale as was the case a year ago. Although, this in part reflects just how limited options were for buyers in Hobart during the pandemic.”
In regional markets, total stock remains restricted but is slowly improving, particularly in regional New South Wales and regional Victoria, he said.
“The total number of properties for sale regionally is around a third lower than pre-pandemic levels but has increased 16.1% year-on-year.”
New listings regionally also grew by 22.2% month-on-month in February, due in part to a quiet January.
While the number of new listings at a national and capital city level rose in the month compared to January, it has been a slower start to 2023 than last year.
“Nationally, new listings are down 11.1% year-on-year and in the capitals, they’re 13.2% lower than in February 2022,” Mr Moore said.
That said, capital city listings activity is higher year-on-year than it was pre-pandemic.
And the slowdown in selling activity comes after an “extremely busy” period in spring 2021 and the start of 2022, he added.
“Conditions slowed in the second half of last year, thanks in large part to the uncertainty sparked by rapidly rising interest rates.
“While selling conditions have clearly softened from where they were a year ago, and market activity has slowed, the fundamental long-term drivers of demand for housing remain solid.
“Unemployment has remained close to multi-decade lows for much of 2022 and into early 2023. Wages growth, while running slower than inflation, has started to pick up. International migration has also resumed, which will further add to
Source: realestate.com.au
