National Stock Levels Plummeted in July

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The number of Australian residential property listings decreased during July, taking national stock on market down to levels not witnessed since February 2011.

Nationally, the number of unsold properties on the market has been recorded at 334,683 for July 2014 – a -3.6 per cent decrease month-on-month and -4.8 per cent decrease year-on-year.

Lower stock levels do have the tendency to hint at an active market, just as the climbing stock levels witnessed in 2010 pointed to a slump in Australian property. SQM Research is most certainly of the opinion that the current property market remains in favour of sellers.

However, when following the trends in stock on market figures over recent periods, SQM Research has noted that the rate of decline has slowed.

Sydney in particular, which was recording yearly stock level declines between 15 and 25 per cent, is now only recording a yearly decline of -8.7 per cent.

“The current property market remains in favour of sellers.”

Further to this, SQM Research’s Asking Prices Index has revealed that asking prices for houses on a national level have actually fallen marginally month-on-month, recording a -0.2 per cent decrease.

Asking Prices for units have risen slightly month-on-month, recording an increase of 0.2 per cent on a national level.

Overall, the national housing market remains buoyant, as real estate listings are being absorbed at a fairly fast pace and buyers are moderately outnumbering sellers.