Property Listings Decreased

National residential listings decreased by 6.3% in April 2019 to 332,236 from 354,459 in March 2019.

All states experienced a decrease in property sales listings over the month, with Sydney experiencing the highest decrease at 11.1%, followed by Melbourne at 8.9% and Canberra 8.8%.

Darwin recorded the lowest decrease at 4.3% and also recorded a year-on-year decline of 6.2%.

Compared to a year ago, national listings rose 2.2% with Melbourne recording a huge increase of 18.2% year-on-year followed by Canberra at 15.3% increase.

Sydney recorded a 0.7% increase year-on-year.

City	April 2018 Total	March 2019 Total	April 2019 Total	Monthly change %	Yearly change %
Sydney	33,364	37,813	33,610	-11.1%	0.7%
Melbourne	32,378	42,001	38,277	-8.9%	18.2%
Brisbane	30,419	33,815	31,476	-6.9%	3.5%
Perth	26,548	28,114	26,178	-6.9%	-1.4%
Adelaide	16,235	17,370	16,355	-5.8%	0.7%
Canberra	3,895	4,928	4,492	-8.8%	15.3%
Darwin	2,089	2,047	1,960	-4.3%	-6.2%
Hobart	2,270	2,503	2,335	-6.7%	2.9%
National	325,147	354,459	332,236	-6.3%	2.2%

Key Points

National residential listings decreased by 3% in April 2019 to 332,236 from 354,459 in March 2019.
All states experienced a decrease in property sales listings over the month, with Sydney experiencing the highest decrease of 1%.
Capital City house asking prices increased marginally by 1% and units decreased by 0.6% for the month to 30 April 2019.
Darwin’s unit price had the highest decrease of all capital cities at 9% over the month.
Hobart’s house prices saw the highest increase of all capital cities at 4% over the month.

The decrease is mainly due to the Easter long weekend and ANZAC day public holidays in the month of April which had only 3 weekends of trade compared to March which had 5 weekends.

That said, I note Sydney listings are now only up by just 0.7% year on year. If Sydney listings are starting to peak that could be a sign we are getting closer to the bottom in this downturn.

However the election could also be having an impact here, with both buyers and sellers waiting until the election is over before making decisions on buying and selling.

Capital City house asking prices increased marginally by 0.1% but units decreased by 0.6% for the month to 30 April 2019.

Unit asking prices are now $559,900 and houses $908,800.

Darwin’s unit price had the highest decrease at 9.9% over the month followed by Hobart with a 5.3% decrease in unit prices.

However, Hobart’s house prices saw the highest increase at 1.4% over the month.

Sydney’s house and unit prices both dropped marginally by 0.5% over the month.

A house in Sydney is now $1,229,100 and a unit is $686,500 – both at 2016 prices.

Sydney’s 12 month decline is now 9.3% for houses and 5.8% for units. Melbourne’s house and unit prices also continue to decline over the 12 months to 30 April at 7.1% and 0.1% respectively.

Perth experienced a marginal growth in house prices of 0.3% but unit prices continue to decline at 0.1%.

Year-on-year capital city asking prices also posted declines of 6.5% for houses and 3.8% for units.

Hobart continues to show the strongest growth year-on-year for houses with a 7.9% increase but units declined 0.3% over the 12 months.

Canberra also experienced yearly growth of 3.1% in houses and 1.0% growth in units.

SQM Research Weekly Asking Prices Index

Week ending: 30 Apr 2019		Asking Price	Change on previous week	Rolling month % change	12 month % change
Sydney	All Houses	1,229.2	-4.3	-0.5%	-9.3%
Sydney	All Units	686.5	-0.7	-0.5%	-5.8%
Melbourne	All Houses	937.2	2.3	0.7%	-7.1%
Melbourne	All Units	543.8	-0.8	-1.3%	-0.1%
Brisbane	All Houses	616.7	0.1	0.2%	1.0%
Brisbane	All Units	372.1	-0.2	-0.9%	-2.4%
Perth	All Houses	667.9	-1.1	0.3%	-2.9%
Perth	All Units	383.3	-0.2	-0.1%	-4.0%
Adelaide	All Houses	512.2	0.3	-0.3%	0.6%
Adelaide	All Units	300.3	-1.0	-0.3%	-1.5%
Canberra	All Houses	818.9	0.9	-0.0%	3.1%
Canberra	All Units	421.3	0.6	0.2%	1.0%
Darwin	All Houses	585.0	-0.2	0.2%	-1.4%
Darwin	All Units	362.5	-5.8	-9.9%	-4.8%
Hobart	All Houses	515.0	5.4	1.4%	7.9%
Hobart	All Units	304.2	-2.2	-5.3%	-0.3%
National	All Houses	566.9	0.7	-0.3%	-0.4%
National	All Units	377.0	-0.2	0.9%	0.1%
Cap City Average	All Houses	908.8	-1.9	0.1%	-6.5%
Cap City Average	All Units	559.9	-0.6	-0.6%	-3.8%

Source: www.sqmresearch.com.au

About Louis Christopher

Louis is recognised as one of Australia’s most respected and impartial research property analyst. He has extensive knowledge and experience of property and is regularly quoted in the media on his insights and is director of SQM Research.
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