Homes resold at a loss were held 5.75 years on average: CoreLogic Pain & Gain Report

Houses that sold for less than their previous purchase price over the June 2019 quarter were typically held by the owner for 5.8 years, according to the latest data from CoreLogic's June quarter Pain & Gain report.

The report found units sold at a loss over the quarter were typically held by their owners for 5.7 years. Conversely, houses sold for a profit had typically been held for 10.0 years and units 8.8 years.

Throughout the combined capital cities, loss-making resales of houses had typically been held for 4.6 years compared to 5.1 years for loss-making resales of units.

Those capital city houses resold for a profit had typically been held for 10.5 years compared to 9.1 years for units.

Houses sold at a loss in Sydney and Melbourne typically had a much shorter hold period than other capital cities. For units sold at a loss, only those in Hobart and Canberra had a median hold period of less than a decade.

In terms of profit-making resales, the median hold periods for houses were longer in Darwin than they were elsewhere and the shortest in Sydney.

For units, Perth and Darwin once again had much longer median hold periods than elsewhere with Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart having the shortest hold periods.

"The trend towards longer holding time in Perth and Darwin for profit–making resales reflects the ongoing weak housing market conditions of the past decade," the report said.

"In regional Australia, houses resold for a loss were typically held for 7.6 years compared to 9.3 years for those sold at a profit.

"For regional unit markets, the average hold period for resales at a loss (9.2 years) was actually longer than for those resold at a profit (7.5 years).

"For houses resold at a loss, the typical hold period was shortest in regional NSW and regional Victoria and longest in regional SA.

"For loss-making unit resales hold periods were shortest in regional NSW and regional Victoria and longest in regional WA.

"For houses reselling at a profit, typical hold periods were much greater than elsewhere in regional areas of SA and Queensland.

"For units selling at a profit, hold periods were longest in regional SA and regional WA."