Houses selling a week faster in Sydney and Melbourne: RP Data

More signs of the health of the residential property market have emerged with the number of days taken to sell a house declining noticeably in Sydney and Melbourne.

Sydney houses took 43 days on average to sell for the week ending March 17 compared with 50 days for the week ending March 10 - a week faster, according to the latest weekly market update for Sydney from RP Data.

The number of days to sell a Sydney unit fell from 38 to 34 days.

Over the same time frame the number of days to sell Melbourne houses fell from an average of 71 days to 64 days -also a week faster - and from 67 t0 57 days for Melbourne units - a week and a half faster.

There were also smaller improvements in time on market (TOM) figures in Brisbane (81 days compared with 83 days) and Perth (63 day compared with 65 days).

RP Data compiles time on market figures based on the average number of days between when a property is first listed for sale and the contract date.