Property listings decline nationwide in April

In Sydney, listings fell by 4.4 per cent but are still up 34.9 per cent from the same time last year. This was also the case in Melbourne which fell 13.7 per cent but are up 6.4 per cent from a year earlier.

Hobart listings continue to fall, falling by 8.4 percent in April and is still 26.8 per cent down from a year earlier.

In the rest of the capital cities listings fell, with Canberra falling by 4.1 per cent, Adelaide by 4.0 per cent, Brisbane by 3.8 per cent and Perth by 2.6 per cent.

The smallest drop was in the Darwin market which fell by 0.2 per cent.

Louis Christopher, managing director of SQM Research said that on the whole listings were up from last year and the fall could be attributed to the long holiday.

“Compared to a year ago, listings are higher in most cities. The falls recorded this month are just seasonal and reflect the Easter holiday period,” he said.

Asking prices in the capitals were also down on average for both houses and units.

Sydney house prices fell by 1.1 per cent, whilst units were just 0.6 per cent, this is in trend for houses as asking prices were down by 1 per cent to $1.36 million over the year.

In Melbourne, prices for houses rose by 0.5 per cent, reflecting an upward trajectory of 18.8 per cent over the year.

Canberra, Brisbane, Hobart and Perth all experienced a fall in asking house prices by 0.1 per cent, 1 per cent, 1.7 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively.

Darwin experienced no change while Adelaide rose by 0.2 per cent.

Units in Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth all rose over the month with 0.8 per cent, 0.4 per cent, 0.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively.

The remainder fell with Darwin falling 1.0 percent, Adelaide by 0.1 per cent and Hobart by 0.2 per cent.