Australia's housing market witnessed growth in residential listings in October, according to the latest market update by SQM Research.
Over the month, national residential property listings increased by 2%, up from 312,754 in September 2019 to 318,874. On an annual basis, however, listings were down by 4.8%.
All states, excluding Darwin, reported growth in listings, with Sydney recording the highest gain at 4.2%. Canberra was not far behind, posting a 4.1% growth in sales listing.
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Property listings in Darwin, on the other hand, went down by 2.4% over the month.
SQM Research chief executive Louis Christopher said listings typically increase during the spring-selling season.
"Sydney and Melbourne have larger counts of new listings compared to this time last year, which should please real estate agents," he said.
Meanwhile, old stock continued to decline but remained at elevated levels.
"This may have made some vendors adjust their expectations over the month as asking prices in four of the eight capital cities actually fell," Christopher said.
Capital city average asking prices decreased marginally by 0.7% for houses during the month, down to $935,400. On the other hand, average asking prices for units crept up by 0.3% to $570,100.
On an annual basis, asking prices for both houses and units declined by 0.8%.
