RP Data: New Listings Surge Ahead of Last Year’s Figures

Housing data reveals that listings and construction commitments are up
Photo: Mark Moz

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released housing finance data for January 2013 earlier this week.

The data showed that the number of owner-occupier housing loans was unchanged over the month.

However, refinanced loans fell by -1.1 per cent compared to a 0.5 per cent rise in non-refinanced loans.

Purchasing and Constructing New Homes

Commitments for the construction of new dwellings rose by 5.8 per cent over the month.

Commitments for the purchase of new dwellings fell by -1.0 per cent and commitments for the purchase of new dwellings (excluding refinances) fell by -0.4 per cent.

“First home buyers continue to show limited levels of activity.”

With 6,021 commitments over the month, the number of commitments for construction of new dwellings was at its highest level since February 2010.

Home Loan Commitments

Data looking at the value of housing finance commitments showed that over the month, owner-occupier refinance commitments increased by 0.7 per cent, owner-occupier non-refinance commitments rose 1.8 per cent, while the value of investment finance commitments fell -3.3 per cent from its record high.

Despite the fact that there was a slight pull-back in investor activity, investors still accounted for 38.5 per cent of new mortgages in January 2014, down from 39.6 per cent the previous month.

First Home Buyers

First home buyers continue to show limited levels of activity. The raw figures show just 5,798 commitments over the month, with first home buyers accounting for 13.2 per cent of all owner-occupier finance commitments over the month.

The 5,798 commitments were the lowest since January 2011 however, as a proportion of all commitments first home buyers were up from 12.7 per cent in December 2013.

Consumer Confidence

Westpac and the Melbourne Institute released their monthly measure of consumer confidence, the Consumer Sentiment Index, for March 2014 earlier this week.

The index showed a continuation of the recent deterioration in consumer sentiment with the index falling by -0.7 per cent to 99.5 points which is also its lowest level since May 2013.

“Investors still accounted for 38.5 per cent of new mortgages in January 2014.”

The sub-indices of: family finances over the past year and economic conditions over the next five years rose with all others falling.

Westpac report that the fall in the index was likely attributable to bad news around the motor vehicle industry, manufacturers and Qantas over the past month.

Auction Numbers Across the Capital Cities

There were 1,520 auctions held across the combined capital cities last week and the weighted average auction clearance rate was recorded at 70.2 per cent.

In comparison, over the previous week, there were 2,712 capital city auctions with a clearance rate of 74.2 per cent.

Across Melbourne, Australia’s largest auction market, the auction clearance rate was recorded at 67.3 per cent last week, down from 76.6 per cent over the previous week.

The number of properties taken to auction was much lower due to a long weekend, falling from 1,334 the previous week to 329 last week. There were 859 Sydney properties taken to auction last week, with a clearance rate of 78.8 per cent, up from 77.6 per cent the previous week when 1,035 auctions were held in the city.

RP Data is expecting just over 2,150 auctions over the current week.

Source: RP Data

Newly Advertised Properties

Over the four weeks to March 9, there were 48,336 newly advertised properties listed for sale nationally.

The number of newly advertised property listings increased by 1.8 per cent over the week and they are currently 9.4 per cent higher than at the same time last year.

Across the combined capital cities, new listings were 2.0 per cent higher over the week and 12.7 per cent higher than they were a year ago.

There are currently 248,940 properties listed for sale across the country. Total listings at a national level were 0.4 per cent higher over the week but -2.3 per cent lower than they were at the same time last year.

Across the combined capital cities, total listings have increased by 1.4 per cent over the week and they are -8.0 per cent lower than they were at this time a year ago. Capital city listings account for just 42 per cent of all listings nationally.