According to SQM Research, home sellers adjusted their pricing expectations downwards over the course of July and into the first week of August.
Median dwelling asking prices fell by 0.5% over the past 30 days up to August 6.
Sydney saw a 1% drop in asking prices, with a 1.3% decline for houses, reducing the median asking price for a Sydney house to $1,916,575. Melbourne also experienced a decline of 0.9%.
Total residential property listings remained relatively stable in July, with a slight 0.2% decrease nationwide.
Perth saw the largest monthly decrease in total listings, falling by 4.3%. Conversely, Brisbane experienced the highest increase at 3.0%.
Over the past year, Sydney and Melbourne recorded increases of 11.2% and 15.9% in listings, respectively, while Perth and Adelaide saw significant decreases.
Nationally, new listings (less than 30 days) increased by 1% in July, totaling 65,863 properties.
Adelaide saw the largest monthly increase, with an 8.3% rise, followed by Brisbane at 4.9%. Hobart and Darwin experienced declines in new listings by 3.5% and 1.7%, respectively.
Older listings (properties listed for over 180 days) decreased by 2.3% in July, with Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney seeing significant reductions.
Compared to July 2023, Perth showed a dramatic 60.2% decrease in older listings.
Despite the decreases, there was an overall 8.6% rise in older property listings nationally over the past year.
The number of residential properties sold under distressed conditions in Australia slightly fell to 5,071, indicating a 0.8% decrease from the previous month.
NSW saw a 6.7% decline in distressed listings, while VIC experienced a 2.5% rise. QLD reported a minor increase of 3.1%, and SA observed a significant drop of 10.9%.
Louis Christopher (pictured above), managing director of SQM Research, commented on the current market trends.
“The housing markets in Sydney and Melbourne continue to slow, driven by some caution from home buyers and uncertainty by home sellers who have become a little more negotiable in recent weeks,” Christopher said.
“Going forward, we can now expect home listings to rise from their winter lull as we head towards spring. That may well put further pressure on the housing market. However, we also believe any rates’ cuts would lift certainty from would-be home buyers towards the end of the year.”
Get the hottest and freshest mortgage news delivered right into your inbox. Subscribe now to our FREE daily newsletter.
