National residential property listings fall 5.5%: SQM

SQM’s research revealed a 5.5 per cent drop during December 2022 to 228,415 properties, down from the 241,701 recorded in November. According to the research, the monthly decline in listings was “driven by the commencement of the summer holiday season”.

However, total listings compared to December 2021 rose by 4.6 per cent, contributed to by a surge in unsold properties. The research found a 14.8 per cent rise in listings over 180 days, which reflected the continued housing downturn as vendors struggled to sell their homes.

Additionally, new listings plummeted over December 2022 by 31.1 per cent to 52,763 properties on the market. Darwin (52.8 per cent), Sydney (49.5 per cent), Canberra (45.2 per cent), Melbourne (43.7 per cent), and Brisbane (40.7 per cent) recorded the largest decreases in new listings over the month.

Sydney and Melbourne saw the largest falls over the year by 35.3 per cent. The research attributed these declines to the “abnormal” month of December 2021, where there was a record of 67.972 new listings.

Furthermore, old listings (listings over 180 days) rose by 3.5 per cent in December 2022 and rose 14.3 per cent over the course of the year.

Hobart, Sydney, and Melbourne saw an increase of 214.3 per cent, 47 per cent, and 27 per cent, respectively, for the past 12 months. Adelaide, however, recorded a fall of 7.7 per cent for the year.

Managing director of SQM research, Louis Christopher, said the large declines in new listings over December 2022 were an “eye opener” and that “we have just gone back to more normal levels for December” in the grand scheme of things.

“This time last year was a frantic period given the opening of the economy and abnormally high buyer activity all the way through to the end of the year,” Mr Christopher added.

“What should be noted though is the rise in older listings which appears to be uniform across cities and townships.

“This rise in older stock completely confirms the depth of this housing downturn and is very typical of what is recorded in past downturns, as there remain more sellers than buyers, dwellings on the market that are not priced to market, don’t sell.”

Preceding the national fall in property listings, July 2022 saw the largest year-on-year increase in property listings in 12 years, according to REA Group’s Proptrack Listings Report.

[RELATED: July listings record largest yoy increase for 12 years]