No slowing of the east coast market: SQM Research

The number of sales listings across the country was steady over the month of November, according to SQM Research.

Overall, the number of unsold properties has decreased by 1.4% year on year and is at a 0% change over the month. In total, there were 363,853 properties on the market in November, compared to 369,057 in the same month last year.

The most significant yearly changes were in Perth, where listings are up 25.9%, and Perth, up 14.7%.

The large figure for Darwin is attributed to the drop in the commodities boom.

In Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra the drops are strongest, at 8.2%, 8.1% and 6.9% respectively.

Over the month, minor changes were recorded in every capital city, with Perth's 2.6% increase the biggest change.

SQM Research’s Louis Christopher said is the direction that Perth has taken recently given the downturn in mining, but that Sydney is performing in the opposite direction.

Sydney’s result, said Christopher, is the result of an ongoing strong sales market.

“Overall the east coast market remains strong. We do not believe that the market is slowing down at this stage,” he said.

“This most recent data suggest that while there was a surge in listings in October that quite a lot of that stock was absorbed and sold. In the resources exposed towns such as Perth and Darwin, we think the downturn continues.” 

Source: SQM Research