Property sellers seem to be trying to cash in on the demand in some markets in Victoria and New South Wales that have been popular amid the pandemic, with listings rising significantly over the past weeks.
Over the four weeks to mid-October, around 45,000 new properties were added to the market, indicating a 28.2% increase, according to a recent market update from CoreLogic.
Around 71% of these new listings were for houses. This is slightly down from a five-year average where houses typically comprise 74% of new listings.
CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen said there has been an increase in listings across some of the most popular markets amid the pandemic.
"What is interesting is there has been a big jump in volumes across markets that have been extremely popular through the pandemic, such as the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, where total listings increased by 261 campaigns over the past four weeks," she said.
"The Mornington Peninsula region has been one of the highest-growth markets in the country, where dwelling values have risen 35.3% in the 12 months to September."
Sydney's Northern Beaches region, where prices have increased by 37.2%, also added a slew of new properties in its stock during the period.
Other popular regions in New South Wales such as Newcastle and Wollongong are starting to see recovery in listings. However, the housing supply in these markets is still well below the five-year average.
"The news could be a relief for buyers, because it means they have more stock to choose from after an extended period of relatively short advertised supply," Ms Owen said.
Melbourne markets report biggest gains
While new listings increase in high-demand areas, markets with a more subdued capital growth also saw listings rise, particularly in Melbourne.
It is interesting that Melbourne comprised more than half of the top 50 markets with the biggest growth in new listings. However, some of these markets have relatively softer demand than the more popular areas.
For instance, Wyndham added 231 new properties in its stock over the period. Values in this market increased by only 5.8% from last year.
Stonnington, which ended the four-week period as the market with the highest new listings, had a subdued annual capital gain of 8.3%.
Wyndham and Stonnington's annual price gains were significantly lower than the Melbourne-wide uplift of 15%.
Ms Owen said new listings are expected to grow continuously over the coming weeks before a seasonal decline around mid-to-late November.
"The highest growth in listings still seems concentrated in less desirable markets for owner occupiers, such as in the unit segment and across high investor concentrated markets across Sydney and Melbourne," she said.
"While there are signs vendors are responding to the high price growth in some of the popular or coastal markets, which could create more bargaining power for some buyers, listings volumes are in many cases still well below historic averages."
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