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National residential property listings may have dipped in December but that doesn’t mean the property market will remain competitive in 2016.
Figures compiled by SQM Research show the number of listed properties across Australia’s capital cities fell to 343,618 in December 2015, decreasing 5.2% from November 2015.
Sydney and Melbourne experienced the most significant monthly falls, according to the data. Sydney property listings were down 17.7% in December while Melbourne property listings fell by 16% over the month.
At the other end of the spectrum, property listings in Hobart dropped by just 0.6% over the month while Perth listings were down 4.3%.
However, year-on-year results indicate that residential property listings are up for most capital cities, which indicates a less competitive and slowing property market according to SQM managing director Louis Christopher.
Sydney experienced an annual rise of 16.2%, with residential property listings climbing from 20,268 to 23,546. Canberra also experienced excessive yearly growth with sale listings up 14.2% based on a total 3,525 listings. This was followed by Darwin with an 11.6% year-on-year increase in total listings.
Hobart and Melbourne were the only capital cities to experience year-on-year falls in residential property listings, with listings down 7.8% and 7.2% respectively.
“While the headline may record a decline in listings for December, the truth is there is heavy seasonality this time of year. Therefore the yearly result is a better indicator of the market. And on that front we are recording large rises in Sydney while Melbourne listings are noticeably down,” Christopher said.
“To me this is yet another indicator of the slow market that Sydney is now experiencing and the contrasting Melbourne market which this information suggests, is firming.”
