Drop in listings 'surprising', says analyst
A month-on-month fall in residential property listings during August was 'surprising', a property market analyst said.
Figures released by property research house SQM Research revealed that residential property listings fell during August, coming to a total of 362,793 nationally. This was 14,522 listings, or 3.8 per cent, lower than July 2011.
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While all capital cities except Hobart experienced a monthly decline in listings for sale, when compared to the same period in 2010 listings are up 23.6 per cent.
Month-on-month, Adelaide recorded a 4.6 per cent decline in listings, Brisbane was down 5.5 per cent, Canberra dropped by 3.3 per cent, Darwin was 6.3 per cent lower, Melbourne eased 2.6 per cent, Perth dropped by 7.1 per cent, while Sydney fell 5.8 per cent.
“The results for August have been surprising,” said managing director of SQM Research, Louis Christopher. “We were expecting a rise in listings and instead we have had a noticeable fall. This still could be a seasonal effect and it also could be vendors withdrawing their properties on the hope of relisting during better market conditions.”
“Nevertheless, our base case here is that listings will rise during the spring selling season.
“If that were to not materialise or only rise marginally, this would be one signal to us that the peak in supply would be reached. For now, it is a wait and see situation and of course, monitoring other indicators on the demand side.”
