New property listings increased by nearly 25 per cent over the month of February, though they remain below 2022’s strong levels.
PropTrack reported that listings on realestate.com.au were up 24.8 per cent across the country.
New listings in capital cities were even stronger, up 26.6 per cent month-on-month.
The uptick was in line with the market’s traditional build up for the autumn selling season, PropTrack Economist Angus Moore said.
“Activity across the nation’s property markets picked up in February as vendors geared up for the autumn selling season,” he said.
All capital cities saw an increase in listings, with the biggest uplift experienced in Darwin (up 50.6 per cent).
Darwin was followed by Canberra (up 47 per cent), Melbourne (up 38.2 per cent), Sydney (up 32.8 per cent), Perth (up 18.1 per cent), Hobart (up 11.7 per cent) and Brisbane (up 10 per cent).
Despite the uptick, the number of new listings remained 11.1 per cent lower (13.2 per cent in capital cities) than they were last year, a factor that might be contributing to the recent stabilisation in price declines.
“The limited new stock coming to market in recent months appears to be putting a floor under
prices,” Mr Moore said.
The biggest difference between 2023 and 2022 levels was apparent in Melbourne (where new listings were down 15.8 per cent) and Sydney (where they were down 18.7 per cent).
Hobart bucked the trend, listings there were up 15 per cent on February 2022.
Mr Moore said that the market faced several tests that could have an impact on listing numbers in coming months.
“… the full effect of the Reserve Bank’s rapid hike in interest rates is yet to be felt, with prices expected to fall further this year,” he said.
Despite this, long-term fundamentals remained strong.
“While selling conditions have softened from where they were a year ago, and market activity has slowed, the fundamental long-term drivers of demand for housing remain solid,” he said.
“Unemployment has remained close to multi-decade lows for much of 2022 and into early 2023, wages growth has started to pick up and international migration has also resumed, all of which support housing demand.”
