Stale housing stock builds up on Melbourne's outer fringe

Stale stock on the market in Melbourne ballooned from 19,800 to 31,600 properties in the last three months, according to Prosper Australia spokesman David Collyer. He says stale stock is particularly accumulating in new suburbs on the city fringe.

Collyer defines stale stock as unsold property on the market for more than 60 days.

“Gardens have been primped, interiors polished up, advertisements run, open for inspections attended, auctions conducted and … no sale,” Collyer notes, arguing that it points at a major correction, as the supply and demand equation would need to be restored by price slides across Melbourne.

“Hardest hit are the first-home buyer hunting grounds in Melbourne’s west, with over 5,600 brand-new houses stale and more being added daily.”

In Derrimut, Werribee and Point Cook, the postcode 3030, there were 2650 stale listings, in the 3029 postcode of Tarneit, Truganina, Hoppers Crossing some 1932 sale listings and at Roxburgh Park and Craigieburn, postcode 3064, some 1095 stale listings.

“To give these figures perspective, only 564 Point Cook properties sold in all last year,” Collyer said.

“This overhang is massive. Developers miscalculated. They built way ahead of buyers and have now come to a grinding halt.”

He forecast this could lead to abrupt and widespread unemployment in the construction trades as projects are completed and workers laid off.

The stale stock figure was collated by Prosper Australia from data published by SQM Research. Prosper was the tax reform group that called for a "home buyers' strike" in March.