National property sale listings fall in August: SQM Research
The level of residential property sale listings fell nationwide during August, according to new figures released from SQM Research.
According to SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said it is another surprise result and a reversal of the surge in listings during July.
“Normally listings start to rise in August ahead of the spring selling season. We will wait until the September reading before drawing too many new conclusions on the market,” he said.
National listed properties dropped to 333,923 in August 2015, a decrease of 4.3% from July 2015. The amount of sale listings are down 3.9% from a year earlier. According to SQM Research, a monthly fall in sale listings for August was expected due to abnormally high sale listings for the month of July 2015.
"Asking prices for Sydney houses continued to climb over July, with a total monthly rise of 1.2% for houses and 0.7% for units. The median asking price for a unit has now reached $630,300, while the median house asking price in Sydney is $1,124,500," he said.
"In contrast, median asking house prices in Canberra recorded yearly falls with a year-on-year comparison showing a 12 month decline of 4.8% for houses, and 1.4% for units. Perth median asking prices continue to record yearly falls, in particular asking prices for houses are down 4.6% over the last 12 months, and 1.2% for units.
"Year-on-year results indicate that Melbourne and Hobart experienced excessive yearly falls. Melbourne recorded the biggest yearly change, with listings falling by 20%, reducing the number of properties for sale to 35,474. Hobart soon followed with records indicating a yearly change of 12.6%."
