Property listings starting to rebound after a tough 2020

Most capital cities saw double-digit declines, led by Hobart with a drastic 22 per cent drop to 1,592 listings. Adelaide followed with a fall of 21.9 per cent to 12,530 listings, while Darwin came in third with a 21.2 per cent drop to 1,353 listings.

Canberra was next with a 20.8 per cent decline to 3,301 listings, while Brisbane suffered a 17.4 per cent contraction to 24,763 listings.

Meanwhile, Perth’s listings shrunk by a lesser 9.7 per cent to 21,300, while Sydney’s decline hit 7.5 per cent to 27,011.

Interestingly, the city with the country’s most prolonged COVID lockdown, Melbourne, saw a rise in listings of 8.9 per cent to 39,335 – the highest number of listings in all capital cities.

In a sign that supply is improving across the country, new listings have picked up by 9.9 per cent over the last 30 days to reach 84,030, with most capital cities recording double-digit increases.

Last year’s biggest listings loser, Hobart, actually led the rise in new listings with growth of an impressive 14.7 per cent to 670, followed by Darwin with a 14.2 per cent boost to 290 listings. Only Canberra saw a decline, suffering a 1.1 per cent setback.

Across the capitals, Melbourne saw the highest number of new listings at 19,640, followed by Sydney with 15,192 and Brisbane with 9,207.

But the impact of COVID still lingers, with SQM Research CEO Louis Christopher noting that over the last 180 days, listings have contracted by 32.5 per cent compared with the same period last year, with each capital city suffering a blow.

However, Mr Christopher praised the market for remaining strong as it rises above the impacts of COVID-19.

“While overall listings fell, absorption rates continued to increase, so we saw overall property listings fall slightly over March, as they did in February; demand for property is still outstripping supply,” he said.

As such, further price growth is on the horizon.

“We are likely to see sustained growth in property prices for the months to come, unless the regulators step in to cool the market, which is unlikely with COVID-19 still lurking in economies,” Mr Christopher concluded.