The September quarter recorded the lowest percentage of profit from resales since the three months to August 2013, according to CoreLogic’s “Pain and Gain” report.
The share of Australian residential properties resold for a gross profit over the September quarter reached 88.9%, down from 89.7% at the end of the June 2018 quarter and 91.1% over the September 2017 quarter.
CoreLogic also found that the gap between houses and unit resales for a profit increased. While 90.8% of all house resales made a gross profit, only 83.6% of all unit resales earned profits.
Both categories, though, recorded a drop in profit-making resales over the quarter.
Focusing on the dollar values, CoreLogic reported that the total value of profit derived from re-sold dwellings was $14.06 billion, which is significantly higher than $488.1 million in realised gross losses from resales.
The majority of the $14.06 billion was generated by Sydney and Melbourne, which made up 31% and 24.7% of total profits nationally, respectively.
“This is reflective of both the higher cost of housing in Sydney and Melbourne and the strong growth in dwelling values prior to the recent downturn, which has resulted in substantial profits. As a comparison, these two cities accounted for just 12.3% and 7.4% of the total value of losses nationally over the quarter,” said Cameron Kusher, CoreLogic analyst.
The share of Australian homes resold for a loss was 11.1%.
Perth (23.7%) and regional Queensland (19.6%) were identified as the areas with the highest share of losses nationally.
“The data shows that some regions surrounding Sydney and Melbourne are recording even fewer resales at a loss than the capital cities. At the other end of the spectrum, six regions – all linked to the resources sector – recorded at least 40% of all resales at a loss over the quarter. It’s important to note though, that although in many of these regions, the share of losses is now lower than at the peak, when you consider the material decline in values across these regions, these instances of loss remain elevated. Ultimately, this is a reflection that housing values remain well below their peaks in these areas,” Kusher said.
The report said that while capital city housing markets have continued to log a lower proportion of resales at a loss than regional markets, loss-making resales across the combined capital cities rose more than in regional markets.