Around the grounds: Australia’s latest property market trends

Residential property market hits $11tn

A significant milestone for the nation’s residential property market has just reached a total value of $11 trillion. According to a CoreLogic statement, this figure was attained after a yearly increase of $900 billion.

Despite these massive numbers, the data revealed that the September quarter saw house prices rise just 1 per cent, the softest growth since March 2023.

“While the market remains resilient in many areas, the pace of growth more broadly has clearly decelerated. Buyers and investors are becoming more cautious, and the current lending environment is leading to more measured purchasing decisions,” said CoreLogic Australia economist Kaytlin Ezzy.

“The year-on-year increase in new listing volumes will have contributed to a deceleration in value growth as the market absorbs the additional stock. The higher rate of sales indicates there’s still solid buyer demand despite changing market conditions.

“As we move through spring, we’re likely to see further moderation in value growth as new listings continue to rise, providing some relief for buyers who have faced intense competition over the past year.”

SA construction below desired target

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has outlined building construction figures, with some unhappy with the progress being made.

According to the data:

• The total number of dwelling units commenced fell 1.1 per cent to 40,293 dwellings.
• New private sector house commencements rose 1.7 per cent to 25,732 dwellings.
• New private sector other residential commencements fell 7.4 per cent to 13,756 dwellings.
• The value of total building work done fell 0.2 per cent to $34.0 billion.

Now, Property Council of Australia has hit back, claiming that the South Australian figures are well below target. In the June quarter, 2,840 homes were completed across South Australia. To reach the national housing target of 1.2 million new homes by 2029, South Australia needs to be contributing 16,000 homes every year or around 4,000 a quarter.

South Australian executive director of the Property Council, Bruce Djite, said: “Certainty means giving developers, builders and their financiers the confidence to start projects knowing they can rely on the timely delivery of services like water and sewerage. Today’s quarterly figures show that South Australia is some way from hitting the pace required to contribute to our share of the national housing target.

“The State Government and industry is working collaboratively to resolve this, but the reality is if we don’t speed up approval processes and the delivery of services the housing crisis will get much worse. The Greater Adelaide Regional Plan will also need to be much more development-friendly if we are to seriously deliver the housing required for all South Australians.”

ACT housing crisis

South Australia isn’t the only state copping backlash. The ACT government is also under fire from HIA, claiming there isn’t being enough done to address the housing crisis across the state.

“We have today released a number of policy priorities that have been developed by our members over the past year, and that we believe can start addressing the housing crisis in Canberra,” said Greg Weller, HIA executive director, ACT and Southern NSW.

“A crisis is the right way to describe where we are at, with the ACT not performing well across a range of housing metrics that impact on home ownership, the rental market and public or social housing.”

HIA is calling on the next government to:

• Prioritise housing delivery through the creation of a housing super portfolio.
• Make improvements to the planning system and increase land supply.
• Reduce the regulatory burden on building.
• Provide greater support for social and affordable housing.
• Reduce taxation on housing.
• Increase support for training and workforce participation.

Brisbane property listings surge

PropTrack’s recent data has revealed a significant surge in listings in Brisbane, with the organisation saying “sellers need to be more realistic”.

Last month, new listings rose 5.1 per cent in the capital. Furthermore, in regional Queensland, listings rose 5 per cent.

This uptick in available properties is a good sign for buyers, said PropTrack’s director of economic research Cameron Kusher.

“The increase in new listings is important because when you start looking, you try and buy something and if you don’t, you’re then hanging out for those new listings. There’s a level of confidence from people who own properties to put them on the market at the moment and that’s taking some of the urgency out of the market for buyers,” he said.

“When there’s more stock and more stock coming, there’s a bit more of a sense of ‘if I miss out on this, it’s not the end of the world’, so for people trying to buy a property, it’s really positive. For sellers, it means they have to be more realistic about prices.”

Some areas saw even higher availabilities, with Brisbane’s western suburbs witnessing a 36.5 per cent increase in new listings year on year.

“During the pandemic, we saw a big jump in properties for sale. Sellers were motivated by strong market conditions and we didn’t see a slowdown in pricing until interest rates started to rise,” said Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee.

“Conversely, a lot of properties are coming to market at the moment. Melbourne and Sydney are seeing price moderation as a result, however this is being driven by higher taxes and high interest rates. Interestingly, more properties are coming up for sale in Brisbane and Perth and a similar slowdown is not occuring.”

Regional price growth

REA Group recently released an analysis of our suburbs, highlighting the strongest year-on-year growth for regional areas across the country.

The top 10 regional towns for year-on-year median house price growth were:

1. Lochinvar, NSW (up 67 per cent)
2. Hyde Park, Queensland (up 59 per cent)
3. Millmerran, Queensland (up 50 per cent)
4. Tralee, NSW (up 50 per cent)
5. Tarcoola Beach, Western Australia (up 48 per cent)
6. Bonville, NSW (up 46 per cent)
7. Bundaberg West, Queensland (up 46 per cent)
8. Bungalow, Queensland (up 45 per cent)
9. Keith, South Australia (up 43 per cent)
10. Rangeway, Western Australia (up 40 per cent)

Related: Desperate sellers challenge buyers in cooling market

Jack Campbell is the editor of Broker Daily. After graduating from the University of Wollongong in 2022, Jack began his journalistic career working on Broker Daily’s sister brand, HR Leader. In August 2023 he was made the news editor and worked alongside some talented journalists writing articles and recording podcasts.

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