Regional markets drive drop in property listings

In the week ending 16 July, there were a total of 219,039 listings across Australia, a fall of 6 per cent compared to a year ago, according to new figures from CoreLogic.

Meanwhile, listings for new properties are up by 2.3 per cent higher than a year ago, at 37,839.

CoreLogic measures the figures by counting properties for sale each week based on a rolling 28-day count.

Looking deeper, new listings across the combined capital cities (23,138) were 5.7 per cent higher than last year while total listings for the capital cities (101,443) fell by 0.4 per cent.

Cameron Kusher, head of research at CoreLogic said the data indicated that capital city markets were driving higher numbers of new listings, while falls in stock across regional housing markets were impacting the lower number of total listings.

“The listings data indicates that the reduction in properties for sale is largely being driven by the regional housing markets rather than the capital cities.”

He added that the existence of more new properties on the market as compared to last year, and particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, “could be an indication of some concern that the market is (or has) moved through its peak”.

Breaking it down

Sydney saw new listings rise by almost 17 per cent and total listings (21,300) grow by 13.3 per cent.

Mr Kusher noted: “For the first time in a number of years Sydney buyers have a relatively larger pool of properties to choose from.”

In Melbourne, new listings (7,091) were up by 10.8 per cent while total listings grew by 0.1 per cent to 27,191 listings. CoreLogic noted that despite a year-on-year growth, the figures are still lower than the 2015 results.

The Tasmanian capital, Hobart, listed 324 new properties – a growth of 10.2 per cent. Total listings sat at 1,271, denoting a fall of 29.2 per cent. Since 2012, total listings in Hobart have fallen by 62.6 per cent. Mr Kusher said the “significant reduction” in listings was “driving buyer urgency” while fuelling the current growth in dwelling values.

Canberra saw a 33.6 per cent lift in new listings (580) and a rise of 14.8 per cent in total listings (1,872).

In Western Australia, Perth saw a fall of 12.9 per cent in new properties for sale, reporting 3,028 listings. Total listings also fell by 10.7 per cent, to 20,476 listings.

Up in Darwin, 192 new properties were listed, denoting a growth of 13.6 per cent. Total listings came to 1,640, a slight up-tick of 0.2 per cent. However, CoreLogic observed that total listings were 62.9 per cent higher than in 2012.

Adelaide saw a total of 8,116 properties enter the market and of those, 1,792 were new listings. New listings grew by 1.9 per cent, while total listings shifted up by 0.6 per cent.

[Related: Capital city dwelling values grow for nearly 20 years straight]