Sellers have slowly started to return to the property market with new listings rising 10.5 per cent in March.
According to the latest PropTrack Listings Report, every capital city recorded an increase in new listings last month, with Adelaide leading the way with a 14.6 per cent uptick in new listings on realestate.com.au.
Perth recorded a 13.3 per cent increase in new listings followed by Sydney (10.3 per cent), Brisbane (9.8 per cent), Melbourne (8.8 per cent), Darwin (7.1 per cent), Hobart (5.8 per cent) and Canberra (5.2 per cent).
PropTrack Economist and report author Angus Moore said March was the busiest month for new listings since May 2022.
Despite this, the autumn selling season, including the overall start to the year, has been slower than in 2022 when property markets were busy.
“Property markets have had a quieter start to the year than was the case in 2022 and autumn was no exception,” Mr Moore said.
“While new listings were up 10.5 pe cent in March compared to February, the peak of the autumn selling season did not match the pace of autumn last year.
“New listings were down 14.9% year-on-year. That slowdown comes after an extremely busy period in early 2022.”
Regional areas also saw new listings rise in March, up 10.9 per cent month-on-month.
Regional Northern Territory led the way with a 48.7 per cent increase in new listings, followed by regional Queensland with a 13.4 per cent rise.
Mr Moore said options for buyers have continued to improve this year, with the total number of properties listed for sale nationally rising 5.8 per cent month-on-month.
This pushed the total number of listings up 8 per cent compared to the same time last year.
“Almost all capital cities have seen an increase in the total number of properties listed for sale compared to a year ago,” Mr Moore said.
“Only Perth has fewer, with the total number of properties listed for sale in March 5.7 per cent lower than last year.
“In both Sydney and Melbourne, the total number of properties listed for sale in March was above the average over the past decade.
“Hobart has seen an extremely sharp increase, with 83.1 per cent more properties for sale compared to a year ago.
“Regionally, the total stock of properties listed for sale remains restricted, but is improving, especially in regional NSW and Victoria.
“The total number of properties for sale regionally is up 15.8 per cent year-on-year, but is still about one-third lower than pre-pandemic.
“Much of this uptick has been driven by big increases in regional NSW (up 38.5 per cent year-on-year) and regional Victoria (up 41.7 per cent year-on-year).”
Mr Moore said with the peak of the autumn selling season behind us, he expected market activity to ease over the traditionally quieter winter months.
“While selling conditions are softer than a year ago, and market activity has slowed, conditions have improved from late 2022 and the fundamental long-term drivers of demand for housing remain solid,” he said.
“We’ve seen home prices increase slightly in recent months – a change from the consistent price falls seen throughout much of 2022.
“Auction clearance rates have firmed up a bit through the first quarter of 2023 compared to last year.
“The unemployment rate has remained close to multi-decade lows for the majority of 2022 and into early 2023.
“Wages growth, while running slower than inflation, has started to pick up. International migration has also resumed, which will further add to housing demand.”
