Australian city property hunters see biggest wave of new homes for sale in a decade By Brendan Casey
Starved Aussie home buyers could soon be spoiled for choice in our capital cities, after new research reveals the number of new listings has soared to multi-year highs.
Hesitant sellers that may have held back in putting their home on the market during Covid lockdowns have clearly made up for lost time, with new listings in cities reaching their highest level in 10 years, according to PropTrack December Listings Report.
“Property market activity continued to soar in November. Australia-wide, new listings surged 12.1 per cent month-on-month, marking the third consecutive month of double-digit growth,” PropTrack Economist Angus Moore said.
“Across Australia’s capital cities, new listings reached their highest level in a decade, up 12.5 per cent month-on-month. This is a strong result for November, which is typically seasonally a little weaker than October.
“However, this year’s peak was pushed back by the delayed start to the spring selling season due to lockdowns.
And that typical spring market surge may go well into summer, with experts predicting that, besides a small shutdown over Christmas, that new listings will stay hot into January.
“We may see a busier December than typical as activity spills later into the year, with sellers who were held back due to lockdowns gearing up to make a sale before Christmas,” Mr Moore says in the report.
“Looking ahead into early 2022, selling conditions are likely to stay strong but may moderate from the dominant levels we’ve seen in recent months.
“Measures of buyer demand remain high but have eased slightly in November. At the same time, new supply coming to market has meant buyers have had more options to choose from than has been the case for much of this year.”
However, it isn’t all good news for buyers looking for a sea or tree-change, with demand remaining high for regional lifestyle changes, as properties for sale in regional Australia remain relatively low compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Total listings are down in regional NSW more than 40 per cent, and more than a third in regional Queensland and regional Victoria.
The pandemic has evidently shifted the way many people want to live, with Australians opting for more spacious homes in 2021.
Recent research by Canstar has found that 73 per cent of Australians now live in a house (as opposed to an apartment, townhouse or villa), up from 66 per cent in 2020.
And after national property prices turbocharged by more than 20 per cent in 2021, the heat is expected to stay in the market well into next year too.
This mean that despite a flood of new listings, it may not be any cheaper or easier for first-home buyers to get into the market in 2022.
According to Canstar, 62 per cent of Australians expect prices to increase further over the next two years.
“Rising property values are bad news for first-home buyers, but existing property owners are revelling in a home equity surge,” Canstar Group Executive Steve Mickenbecker said.
“Homeowners in New South Wales have seen the biggest increase, lifting home equity to $407,299, followed by Victorian homeowners with $312,578.”
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