Seasonal slowdown freezes listing activity in June
Total property listings dropped in June, yet overall supply is marginally higher year-on-year, showing varied trends across capital cities.
SQM Research’s latest property listings report showed that nationwide residential property listings declined by 8.8 per cent over June 2025 to 234,067 listings.
Despite the monthly decrease, the report showed that total listings levels remain 1 per cent higher nationally compared to the 231,799 listings in June 2024, reflecting a marginal easing in market conditions over the long term.
SQM Research managing director, Louis Christopher, said the monthly downturn was driven by a broad decline in listings across all major cities, due to the historically low levels of listing activity in winter.
“National listings were down last month as the seasonal lull of winter takes hold on the housing market,” Christopher said.
Melbourne recorded the largest monthly drop of 12 per cent to 36,838 total listings, which was also 0.8 per cent lower than the 37,123 properties on the city’s market in June of last year.
While Sydney posted the next highest monthly reduction of 10.3 per cent to 31,489 total listings, the city’s volumes still remain 6.7 per cent higher year-on-year.
Christopher said the data could indicate cumulative growth in Sydney’s housing supply.
Listing activity in Brisbane decreased by 7.3 per cent over the month to 15,931 listings and remains 3.5 per cent lower than the levels from the previous year, reflecting a moderate tightening of stock in the capital city.
Although Perth notched up a decrease of 9.7 per cent to 15,250 total listings, the Western Australian capital posted the strongest annual increase, which has driven volumes to sit 23.5 per cent higher than one year ago.
Canberra and Adelaide also recorded substantial annual gains of 10.4 per cent and 9.8 per cent respectively, while Hobart saw a comparatively modest growth of 5.1 per cent year-on-year.
On the other end of the spectrum, Darwin was the only capital to post a steep annual decline, resulting in the city’s total listings being 32.7 per cent lower than the levels from June 2024.
New listings decline as winter sets in
The report showed that the level of new residential property listings on the market for 30 days or less fell by 9.1 per cent over the month to 62,769 properties nationwide.
Sydney and Melbourne recorded the most significant monthly drops, at 14.2 per cent and 18.8 per cent, respectively, while Brisbane posted a decline of 3.3 per cent compared to May 2025 levels.
Darwin and Hobart were the only capital cities to notch up an increase to new listings over June, with monthly gains of 14 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively.
While the level of new listings in Perth dipped by 8.2 per cent month-on-month, the Western Australian capital posted annual growth of 17.8 per cent, which was by far the strongest across the capital cities.
Distressed listings up year-on-year
SQM Research’s data also showed that the number of properties listed under distressed conditions nationwide declined 1.1 per cent over June to 4,543.
Despite the moderate easing in distressed property levels, Christopher said the year-on-year total remains 11.1 per cent higher nationwide, reflecting reduced urgency among sellers compared to 2024.
Most states and territories recorded monthly declines in distressed listings over June 2025, with South Australia and Western Australia having the largest monthly drops of 6.9 per cent and 6.6 per cent, respectively.
The Tasmanian market registered the highest increase (3.4 per cent) in distressed listings over the month, with the 2 per cent rise in Queensland marking the only other lift across the capital city markets.
With the seasonal decline of winter already contributing to slumped listing activity, Christopher said the trend is expected to continue in July, but could result in more favourable conditions for sellers across the nation.
“There is nothing unusual about this drop and we can expect July to also be a month of lower listings activity,” Christopher said.
“The flip to this is that winter is generally a period where it is a good time to sell as buyers are still out in the marketplace, yet there is less competition between sellers,” he concluded.