This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
NATIONAL total residential property listings decreased by 4% in November to 296,267 listings.
SQM Research reported that listings decreased from 308,468 in October of 2020 to 296,267 listings in November, with all capital cities recording a fall in listings over the month, with the exception of Melbourne which saw an increase of 1.2%.
Darwin recorded the largest decrease with a 6.7% fall in listings, Sydney followed with a 6.4% decrease and Hobart with a 6.1% decrease.
Perth recorded the smallest drop with 2.4%. While Brisbane recorded a 3.8% decrease, Adelaide 3.0% and Canberra 3.2%.
National year-on-year listings decreased by 12.6%, with Darwin showing the largest year-on-year fall at 28.2%, Hobart falling 26.1% and Adelaide 21.5%. Sydney recorded a decrease of only 0.7%, while Melbourne recorded an increase of 11.5%.
There was an increase in new listings nationally of 0.48%, with 381 new properties being listed in 30 days. Sydney was the only capital city to record a decline in new listings, while Darwin had a 27.3% increase in listings and Melbourne a 4.1% increase.
“There was a surprise decline in total listings for the month, which was predominantly driven by a decline in old listings. The fall in old listings tells me stock is being absorbed at a quicker rate than levels recorded earlier this year. It is a yet another signal that buyer activity is on the rise,” said Louis Christopher, managing director of SQM Research.
Days on market
Over the month, average asking prices across capital cities fell by 0.1% for houses to $988,500 and increased by 0.3% for units to 565,800. Capital city asking prices increased by 4.2% for houses and declined by 1.2% for units compared to a year ago.
Only three capital cities recorded an increase in asking prices for both houses and units. Adelaide saw a 2.1% increase for houses and 2.0% for units, Canberra an increase in asking prices of 0.5% for houses and units 1.7% and Darwin 1.5% for houses and 1.9% for units.
Melbourne recorded an increase in unit asking prices of 1.4% and a decline in house asking prices of 1.1%. Sydney saw an increase of 1.6% for houses and a decline of 0.3% for units and Brisbane saw a 0.5% decrease for houses and a 0.5% increase for units.
Both Perth and Hobart recorded declines in both house and unit asking prices with 1.2% and 0.9% respectively for houses and 0.1% and 1.4% for units.
Most capital cities recorded increases in house and unit asking prices, year-on-year. With Hobart’s unit asking price reporting an increase of 19.2% and Darwin’s unit prices increasing by 13.4%. While Sydney’s unit prices declined 5.2% over the 12 months but house prices increased 5.5%.