Melbourne listings soar as capital cities plummet

New figures published by Domain have suggested that Melbourne’s new property listings grew week-to-week by 29 per cent, marking the largest growth recorded since November last year. 

The findings, which are reportedly taken from the week ended 26 February, reported that Melbourne was the only capital city included in the research to experience an upwards momentum over this period, with Perth (no change), Sydney (-2 per cent), Brisbane (-2 per cent) and Adelaide (-13 per cent) seeing no growth whatsoever. 

According to the results, Melbourne also reported a preliminary clearance rate of 67 per cent. 

But while this figure marks an immediate positive for the second most populous city, the number of listings still remains 8 per cent lower year-on-year, according to Domain’s internal figures. 

Comparatively, new listings in Sydney (7 per cent), Brisbane (4 per cent), Adelaide (6 per cent) and Perth (1 per cent) remain higher than they did this time in 2021. 

Excluding the capital cities, listings in NSW (11 per cent), Queensland (7 per cent), Victoria (5 per cent) and Western Australia (16 per cent) all saw positive movements, while South Australia reported a loss of 6 per cent. 

However, each state bar Victoria (-2 per cent) has reported growth compared to the same week last year, with South Australia seeing the greatest at 17 per cent, followed by NSW and Queensland (both at 13 per cent) and Western Australia (6 per cent). 

South Australia sees upswing in demand 

According to Domain’s results, demand also saw some signs of an uptick, with all reported areas, excluding Western Australia (no change), seeing some week-on-week growth, the highest being Melbourne at 16 per cent. 

However, the Victorian capital also reported the biggest year-on-year loss at -22 per cent. 

This trend was mirrored throughout most of the country with only Adelaide (12 per cent), the rest of South Australia (11 per cent) and Perth (1 per cent) seeing a rise in buyer demand. 

Speaking of the results, Domain head of research and economics Nicola Powell said: “A buyer approaching this autumn season is in a different position to what a buyer was in autumn 2021.

She added that sellers began to enter the market earlier this year, “which has provided four weeks of strong levels of new listings”. 

“This means buyers can approach the Autumn selling season knowing they have greater choice and can act with less haste than this time last year,” Ms Powell said.

[Related: Housing value growth loses steam]