Median Sydney House Prices Above $1,120,000

www.smh.com.au

The number of Australian residential property sale listings fell in all capital cities during the month of June, with falls in Sydney and Melbourne larger than expected for this time of year.

Nationally, the number of listed properties fell to 335,971 in June 2015, falling 6.5% from May 2015, with the number of listings down 3.2% from a year earlier. Once again Sydney and Melbourne recorded the heaviest monthly change, as a result bringing the national average down. Year-on-year results indicate that Melbourne, Sydney and to a lesser extent Hobart, experienced excessive yearly falls.

Melbourne recorded the biggest yearly change, with listings falling by 20.2%, reducing the number of properties for sale to 34,498. Sydney soon followed with listings down 15.7% from this time last year. Hobart recorded a yearly change of 8.4%.

While the national result is only down marginally from levels recorded this time last year, the Sydney and Melbourne result clearly reveals the ongoing boom in these two cities. We have not seen Sydney with so few listings and Melbourne’s stock is now being quickly absorbed. Potential vendors in these two cities are holding back on selling their property in the hope (and fear) that the market is going to rise from here. And with this type of squeeze on the market, prices will indeed most likely rise from here.

Asking prices for Sydney houses continued to climb over June, with a total monthly rise of 2.8%. The median asking price for a house has now reached $1,120,700 while the median unit in Sydney dropped over June and is now advertised at $615,400, according to SQM Research.

In contrast, median asking house prices in Darwin continue to fall with year-on-year comparison showing a 12 month decline of 2.4% for houses, and 8.4% for units. Perth also recorded yearly falls with asking prices for houses down 3.6%, and 1.0% for units.

Key Points

• Total online national residential listings fell during June 2015 to 335,971.This figure represents a fall of 3.2% when compared to the corresponding period of the previous year (June 2014).

• Sydney recorded the largest monthly fall in stock levels, jumping by 13.7% during June 2015 to 18,968.

• Darwin recorded the lowest monthly increase in stock levels of all capital cities, increasing by 1.9% during the month to 2,063, 34.7% above this time last year.

• Median Sydney house asking prices continue to rise during June 2015, with the current asking price for a house sitting at $1,120,700.

• Sydney sale listings are at an all-time low since our records begun in 2008. The Melbourne result is the lowest level recorded since February 2011, according to SQM Research.