Home seekers in Australia’s biggest capitals have been thrown a lifeline ahead of spring following a surge in property listings that promises to ease buyer competition for housing.
The surge has been coupled with a warning to vendors to be “more negotiable” with prices and settlement terms given the greater choice of housing available for buyers.
SQM Research figures released today revealed “significant” increases in total listings across most major cities.
The biggest rises were recorded in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, where listings are now at their highest levels in many years.
“We can now comfortably say as a research house that Sydney and Melbourne are buyer’s markets,” said SQM Research director Louis Christopher.
Competition at auction could moderate as more listings become available.
Sydney experienced the most significant monthly increase, with new listings the highest level for a month of August since SQM records began in 2009.
The volume of listings rose by 14.7 per cent over August, bringing the total available properties to 33,790.
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This was a considerable jump from the levels recorded over the same period in 2023, marking a yearly increase of 20.2 per cent – or roughly 5,500 more homes up for sale.
“The last time Sydney had a volume of listings like this was during 2010-2013 when there was a downturn in prices so that tells you the kind of market conditions we’re entering,” Mr Christopher said.
Melbourne recorded a notable monthly listings increase at 12.2 per cent over August, with total listings climbing to 41,729. That’s roughly 8,000 more homes available for sale than in August last year.
Melbourne continued to reveal very large yearly listing increases, with a 22.8 per cent rise in properties for sale compared to August 2023.
A shortage of listings has, until recently, put pressure on buyers to pay more. Picture: Tim Hunter.
Mr Christopher said the bump in Sydney and Melbourne listings following slowing housing market conditions in these capitals.
“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,” he said.
“Going forward, the Spring selling season will provide a significant level of choice for buyers, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne with listings at their highest levels in some years.”
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Canberra and Adelaide showed solid monthly growth in listings, with increases of 10.7 per cent and 9.1 per cent respectively, according to SQM Research.
Canberra, in particular, experienced the largest yearly increase of all major cities at 31.7 per cent, with listings rising to 4,241 properties.
Brisbane listings were up 13 per cent year on year.
Housing supply has been one of the biggest issues for multiple capitals. Picture: Jonathan Ng
The big movements in larger cities coincided with a fall in annual listings across markets such as Perth and this meant rises in national listings volumes were not as high.
National residential property listings rose by 7.9 per cent over August and 11.1 per cent for the year, bringing the total number of Australian properties currently for sale to 249,523.
“We’re not expecting a crash in values, but there will be good deals to be had,” Mr Christoper said.
PropTrack economist Eleanor Creagh said increases in listings had until now been largely absorbed by buyers but this may change in Sydney and Melbourne as even more stock becomes available.
My Housing Market economist Andrew Wilson said Melbourne was already a “buyer’s market” and more listings would ease conditions for buyers even further.
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