Sydney's 2018 listings hangover from unsold 2017 listings
Monthly national residential listings fell January 2018 by nearly 5%, according to SQM Research.
Listings dropped to 303,901 across the country, a total of a 6.2% decrease over the year.
The fall is not surprising, says SQM Research managing director Louis Christoper, given January is typically the quietest month of the year.
"Year-on-year, listings are much higher in Sydney, with more homeowners happy to list their properties compared to one year ago, and take profits.In Canberra, listings fell 6.2% while in Adelaide listings dropped 5.8%," he said.
"In Brisbane, stock on market fell by 3.9% with more modest falls in Perth of 2.1% and 1.3% in Darwin. In Hobart, listings were down by 2.6% over the month of January.
“Looking forward, with interest rates still at low levels and a possible expansion in lending by the banks, we expect a year of modest prices gains in Sydney and most other capital cities.
“The auction clearance rate results and the asking prices over the remainder of February will give us some good insight in terms of how the market has opened. While we did record a strong lift in asking prices in January, it has been based on a lower count of listings, so I will not read too much into the rise at this stage.”
Melbourne was the only double digit monthly change in January, with listings dropping a near 14% from 28,895 to 24,881.
Sydney's listings have dropped 7% while Canberra and Adelaide each saw declines of around 6% in the month. Perth recorded the lowest monthly change with 2% listings decrease.
City | JAN 2017 Total | DEC 2017 Total | JAN 2018 Total | Monthly change % | Yearly change % |
Adelaide | 15,675 | 16,588 | 15,620 | -5.8% | -0.4% |
Brisbane | 28,511 | 30,040 | 28,882 | -3.9% | 1.3% |
Canberra | 3,003 | 3,527 | 3,307 | -6.2% | 10.1% |
Darwin | 2,037 | 2,055 | 2,028 | -1.3% | -0.4% |
Hobart | 3,333 | 2,426 | 2,362 | -2.6% | -29.1% |
28,249 | 28,895 | 24,881 | -13.9% | -11.9% | |
Perth | 25,804 | 25,277 | 24,735 | -2.1% | -4.1% |
Sydney | 21,633 | 28,103 | 26,150 | -6.9% | 20.9% |
National | 323,904 | 319,192 | 303,901 | -4.8% | -6.2%
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The highest stock decrease from this time last year was in Hobart, with houses flying off the shelves.
Hobart's listings have dropped nearly 30% from 3,333 to 2,362 since this time last year.
Despite a near 7% monthly decrease, Sydney has 21% more stock than last January.
Canberra has the second highest stock increase, up 10%.
Melbourne's near 14% monthly change in the last month has contributed to its 12% decrease on amount of listings from this time last year.