Following the holiday season, Australia's property market has sprung back to life, with a noticeable rise in sellers entering the market compared to the previous year, fresh PropTrack figures showed.
REA Group’s PropTrack Listings Report revealed that new listings on realestate.com.au increased 12% year-on-year, an uptick that is especially pronounced in Melbourne and Sydney, both of which have seen their strongest January for new listings in more than a decade.
Sydney's new listings soared by 27.7%, its most active January since 2011, while Melbourne experienced a 27.8% rise, marking its busiest January since 2008.
Angus Moore (pictured above), PropTrack's senior economist and report author, pointed to several factors fueling the market’s vibrancy.
“More activity in property markets than we were seeing in early 2023 is being supported by strong demand, very low unemployment, population growth, tight rental market conditions, and a more stable outlook for interest rates,” Moore said.
The Reserve Bank’s decision to maintain interest rates in February, following a hike in November, reflects confidence in controlling inflation, potentially leading to rate reductions later in the year.
“While there is a possibility of further interest rate increases if inflation turns out to be more entrenched than currently expected, financial markets are not expecting that will occur,” Moore said. “Instead, financial markets are now expecting a reasonable chance that interest rates will decline later in the year.”
The PropTrack report also shed light on other areas, noting significant activity in Hobart (+4.3% year-on-year) and Canberra (+13.2%), with the latter experiencing its busiest January on record for new listings.
Brisbane (+4.8%) and Adelaide (+9.9%) saw increased activity, though not to an extraordinary degree. Perth witnessed a slight decline in new listings, whereas regional areas enjoyed a modest uptick, with 4.7% more new listings than a year ago.
January’s surge in listings has enhanced the choice available to buyers nationwide, with a 1.2% month-on-month increase in total properties listed for sale on realestate.com.au, culminating in a 4.5% year-on-year rise.
For further details and to access the full report, visit the realestate.com.au website.
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