Spring-selling season commences with drop in listings

This year’s spring-selling season is shaping up to be more subdued as property listings fell unexpectedly over the past month.

The number of available residential properties for sale across the country fell 3.5% to 228,945 in August, according to SQM Research.

Over the month, Perth, Sydney, and Canberra posted the biggest decline in total property listings.

SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said property listings usually start to increase in August in preparation of the spring-selling season.

“It would suggest to me spring is going to be weaker on the activity front — vendors are clearly cautious to sell in this environment and there is no panic selling at this stage,” Mr Christopher said.

In fact, the drop in the total listings was due to fewer properties that came into the market over the past month.

According to SQM Research, the number of new listings, which comprises properties that are up for sale for less than 30 days, declined 1.9% to 70,766 in August.

Brisbane recorded the biggest drop in new listings at 10.3%, followed by Adelaide (9.7%), and Perth (9.4%).

Of all capital cities, only Darwin witnessed more new listings in August.

In terms of old listings, the overhead count fell by only 0.6%, as most capital cities actually reported higher figures over the month. Old listings refer to the properties that have been on the market for more than 180 days.

*Total Listings include properties that are on the market for more than 30 days but less than 180 days.

However, SQM Research found an increase in the number of distressed listings, particularly in New South Wales, the ACT, and Tasmania. Overall, distressed listings increased 2.0% in August, driven by the above 10% gain observed in the states mentioned.

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