New listings jump in Sydney, Melbourne

Australia's property market witnessed an increase in new listings in January, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, indicating the growing interest of property owners in selling, according to SQM Research.

Over the month, the total number of property listings rose by 2.2% to 295,295, with Melbourne reporting the highest number of listings at 31,058. On an annual basis, however, listings were still down by 10%.

All capital cities reported increases in property listings over the month, with Sydney clocking the most significant gain at 5.1% followed by Hobart at 4.9%. On an annual basis, each capital city followed the overall downtrend.

"The month of January traditionally records small falls in properties listed for sale as the market is still in a summer holiday mode," said Louis Christopher, managing director at SQM Research.

The table below shows the monthly and annual growth in property listings in each state:

Surge in new listings?

Interestingly, there is a considerable growth in new listings in some of the capital cities from the same month last year. Properties are listed as new listings if they have been in the market for less than a month.

The overall number of new listings rose by roughly 13.6% to 47,927 in January, according to SQM Research. Property owners in Sydney and Melbourne were the busiest, with new listings in the two capital cities rising by approximately 50%.

"The positive start in new listings shows vendors are now keen to sell and we could see further increases in the coming months," Christopher said.

Recent figures from CoreLogic show healthy gains in dwelling values, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne. The national home value index registered a 0.9% monthly increase in January while clocking the fastest annual growth since December 2017 at 4.1%.

The table below shows the comparison between the new listings recorded in each state in January 2020 and January 2019.