Australia has started the winter months with a nationwide fall in residential listings.
Figures released this week by SQM Research have revealed residential listings fell 1.5% to 345,058 in June, with monthly falls recorded in six out of the eight capital city markets.
Over June, Canberra led the way in terms of monthly falls with residential listing falling 5.6%, followed by Hobart where listings fell 5.3% over the month.
Listings fell 3.4% in Melbourne and 3.3% in Sydney over the month, while smaller falls of 2.1% and 1.8% were recorded in Adelaide and Darwin respectively.
Brisbane (0.1%) and Perth (0.4%) were the only two cities to see listings increase during June.
While listings were down in the majority of capital cities over June, yearly figures paint a different picture as listings are higher in all but one market over the 12 months to June 2016.
Nationally, listings are 2.5% higher than they were 12 months ago, mainly driven by conditions in Sydney which has seen a 30.9% increase over the past year.
Brisbane also saw a double-digit increase over the year with listings up 10.4% since June 2015, while in Perth a 7.2% increase has been recorded over the past 12 months.
Listings in Melbourne have increased 4.6% in the year to June, while they are up 2.8% and 1.4% in Canberra and Darwin respectively over the same period.
Hobart is the only city to see a yearly decrease, with listings 9.8% lower than they were in June 2015.
SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said while the yearly increase seen in Sydney is significant, he believe it shows the city is returning to its normal market dynamics.
“This is a fairly normal result for winter where, historically, property listings fall during the colder months. The one abnormality is Sydney, where we’re recording a massive year on year rise of 30%,” Christopher said.
“If anything that just shows how frenzied the Sydney market was this time last year. However, Sydney is not oversupplied with listings right now. Rather, it is returning to more normal long term averages,” he said.
According to SQM, Hobart’s yearly fall is likely a further indication of a strengthening market which would add further support to those who have thrown their weight behind the Tasmanian capital in recent months.
