Property sales should continue to rise which will help the economy

Australian property sales have increased over the past six months

In the three months to the end of August, an estimated 117,300 properties sold around Australia (see graph below from Domain).

That’s an increase of just 1 per cent compared to the same period one year ago (recent months are estimates as official sales data does not include all recent sales).

Over the year to August, an estimated 433,500 properties changed hands.

According to “seasonally adjusted” property sales data, turnover reached a low point in the three months to February 2019.

Since then, property sales have increased by 15 per cent.

Property sales should continue to rise, which will help the economy

In his article Wiltshire explains why the turnover of properties should now increase citing the recent speech by the RBA governor who identified that very low housing turnover has been a factor behind weak consumer spending,

“Another part of the explanation for weak growth in household spending is the adjustment in the housing market … With fewer of us moving homes, spending on new furniture and household appliances has been quite soft. So too, has expenditure on moving costs and real estate fees”.

So a turnaround in the number of property sales should give the struggling Australian economy a boost.

Rising property prices in Sydney and Melbourne should contribute to property sales increasing further.

With the market rebound underpinned by interest rate cuts and the expectation of more cuts to come, property sales are likely to rise further in the year ahead.