National home sales drop year on year: CoreLogic

An estimated 488,898 homes were sold nationally over the 2023 calendar year, revealing a drop of 2.8 per cent on the year prior, according to CoreLogic’s latest Housing Chart Pack for January. The gross value of those sales per annum was $416.1 billion.

However, CoreLogic has found that aside from the seasonal drop-off during December, sales volumes are still trending “a little higher” than the historical national five-year average.

Sales volumes in the combined regions recorded a drop of 7.6 per cent, while combined capitals remained unchanged at 0 per cent.

Regional Northern Territory recorded the largest decline of 16.3 per cent in sales volumes, followed by Victoria (11 per cent), Queensland (8.2 per cent), Tasmania (7.8 per cent), NSW (6.4 per cent), South Australia (6.2 per cent), and Western Australia (2.5 per cent).

Out of the capital cities, Perth, Sydney, and Hobart recorded an increase in sales volumes in the 12 months to December 2023, at 4.1 per cent, 3.3 per cent, and 2.1 per cent, respectively.

Darwin led in the declines, falling 8.2 per cent, followed by Melbourne (4.2 per cent), Canberra (2.4 per cent), Brisbane (1.5 per cent), and Adelaide (1.1 per cent).

Furthermore, the median time taken to sell a capital city home trended lower throughout last year, but lifted slightly higher during the December quarter, to 29 days from 27 days.

According to CoreLogic, the median selling time for regional dwellings is 41 days, up from 36 days in 2022, remaining well below the pre-COVID-19 average.

Additionally, Australia’s residential real estate was valued at $10.3 trillion in the 12 months to December 2023 over 11.1 million dwellings, with an outstanding mortgage debt of $2.2 trillion.

Housing market resilience over 2023

According to CoreLogic’s head of research Eliza Owen, home values over 2023 held “broadly resilient” under conditions of rising rates, stretched affordability, and the fixed-rate cliff on the back of its Best of the Best Report for 2023.

However, she noted that there were still some indications that high housing costs “were biting”, with 2024 expected to see more subdued capital growth.

“Housing activity rebounded through early 2023 as buyers took advantage of lower prices, however, towards the end of 2023 affordability constraints have become more pressing, skewing demand towards the middle-to-lower end of the pricing spectrum,” Ms Owen said.

“Certainly, lower-priced housing markets such as Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide saw very resilient conditions through the national downswing period and strong annual growth through to the end of November.”

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