Property Listings Rise in July
By Louis Christopher on 5 Aug 2015
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Photo Source: smh.com.au
The number of Australian residential property sale listings climbed in most capital cities during the month of July, excluding Hobart which recorded a modest fall of 0.5%.
Nationally, the number of listed properties rose to 348,903 in July 2015, increasing 3.8% from June 2015, with the number of sale listings up 4.2% from a year earlier. This rise is abnormal for July as sale listings are generally subdued this time of the year. Once again, national increases have been largely driven by Sydney and Melbourne sale listings. In Sydney and Melbourne the rises recorded are the largest for the month of July since SQM’s listings records begun in 2008.
Year-on-year results indicate that Melbourne and Hobart experienced excessive yearly falls. Melbourne recorded the biggest yearly change, with listings falling by 10.3%, reducing the number of properties for sale to 37,179. Hobart soon followed with records indicating a yearly change of 7.2%
I believe the results do represent an indication that the measures undertaken by APRA in slowing investor demand are now having an impact on the market. At this stage it is too early to call the magnitude of the impact, however it is likely that the measures (which SQM still regards as moderate) will slow the rate of dwelling price inflation recorded, rather than create a price correction.
Asking prices for Sydney houses continued to climb over July, with a total monthly rise of 1.5% for houses and 0.4% for units. The median asking price for a house has now reached $1,124,900 while the median unit asking price in Sydney is $619,500, according to SQM Research.
In contrast, median asking house prices in Perth continue to fall with a year-on-year comparison showing a 12 month decline of 4.2% for houses, and 1.2% for units. Darwin also recorded yearly falls, in particular asking prices for units are down 7.9% over the last 12 months.
Key Points
- Total online national residential listing climbed during July 2015 to 348,903.The rise in listings is the largest national surge recorded for this month since July 2010.
- This figure represents a rise of 4.2% when compared to the corresponding period of the previous year (July 2014).
- Hobart recorded the largest monthly fall in stock levels, falling by 0.5% during July 2015 to 3,769.
- Melbourne recorded the biggest yearly change, with listings falling by 10.3%, reducing the number of properties for sale to 37,179.
- Median Sydney house asking prices continue to rise during July 2015, with the current asking price for a house sitting at $1,124,900.
- Sydney recorded the largest monthly change, with listings up 18.5%, raising the number of properties for sale to 22,478.
