Property sales have remained steady and are over 60 per cent higher than in 2020 and 2019, according to a new report from the REA.
The Real Estate Australia Insights Housing Market Indicators Report July 2021 combines eight key metrics to provide an up-to-date view of the property market and emerging trends.
The report analyses consumer behaviour in real time by extracting property market insights from the 12 million Australians who visit realestate.com.au each month.
Key metrics include search activity, email inquiry, views per listing, weekly sales of properties listed for sale on the website, days on site of properties sold, filtered searches by price and by bedroom, and developer inquiry.
It found there were 8.7 per cent more preliminary sales last week compared to the week prior, despite COVID-19 lockdowns across the country.
Over the first 27 weeks of this year, preliminary weekly sales were 60.7 per cent higher than the same time period last year and 68.7 per cent higher than the same period in 2019.
REA Group Director of Economic Research Cameron Kusher said the property market remained buoyant in June as prices continued to rise and sales activity was strong.
“All indicators have continued to outperform previous years and remain at historically high levels,” Mr Kusher said.
“There has been a clear cooling of the market over recent months, which is to be expected at this time of year during what is typically a quieter period for the housing market.
“COVID-19 lockdowns across the country may have had some impact but activity is relatively strong despite the market not returning to its pre-Easter strength.
“Demand has eased slightly but properties for sale are still tight so are expected to continue to sell quickly. Views per listing levels are likely to remain comparatively high to similar winter periods.”
Mr Kusher explained first home buyers are slowing down with a fall of 5.2 per cent, while investors are showing more interest.
Statistics indicate investors will continue their comeback despite a slight drop of two per cent in enquiry to agents on in June.
After monthly rises in May, email inquiry from buyers fell by 10.4 per cent in June.
National search volumes for properties for sale are 13.9 per cent higher than they were a year ago but have fallen from their peak in February by 8.6 per cent.
Demand for properties for sale based on average views per online listing saw a 4.6 per cent decline in June 2021 but remain 43.2 per cent higher year-on-year.
Views per listing rose over the month in South Australia (0.3 per cent), Tasmania (2.8 per cent) and the Northern Territory (six per cent).
However, it fell elsewhere, with New South Wales down 6.6 per cent and Victoria falling 6.5 per cent.
Demand for property is still at historically high levels looking at long-term trends.
Median days on site for properties that moved from the for sale section to the sold section during June 2021 was 38 days.
That’s much lower than the 71 days at the same time last year, but up from the historic low of 33 days in May 2021.
The number of filtered searches for properties listed for at least $1 million was 39 percent.
This is almost double for properties listed below $500,000, which came in at 15.5 per cent.
“With low borrowing costs and prices rising we expect an increasing share of property seekers to be looking at properties priced over $1 million,” Mr Kusher said.
“Demand for higher priced properties is largely driven by the current supply of higher priced properties. This may result in increasing housing affordability challenges come spring.
“Over the coming months it is reasonable to expect some further slowing as we move deeper into winter.”
In June 2020, the search volumes for each price point were much closer at 27.1 per cent and 24.1 per cent respectively.
Three bedrooms is still the magic number for most property seekers with 49.2 per cent of filtered searches for a minimum of three bedrooms in June 2021.
Developer inquiry continues to trend lower following the end of HomeBuilder.
New homes inquiry fell by 0.6 per cent over the month of June 2021, which was 1.4 per cent lower than the same time last year.
