New listings across most parts of Australia increased in November, the last month of the spring-selling season.
PropTrack's latest report showed a 6.6% monthly gain in new listings and a 3.8% rise in overall number of properties advertised for sale in the month.
PropTrack economist Angus Moore said the increase in new listings is slightly unusual, as activity in the spring-selling season usually peak in October.
"That increase helped improve choice for buyers, with total listings increasing in almost all parts of the country," he said.
Unsurprisingly, new listings in November were substantially lower than a year ago, down 21.8%.
The annual fall waslargely due to the fact that new listings were extremely strong at that time in 2021 on the back of COVID restrictions easing in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra and the property market making up for lost time amid strong market conditions.
Overall listings, however, also increased annually in alol parts of the country, with only Darwin reporting a marginal decline.
"Buyers in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra have been enjoying more options than has been typical for the prior decade," Mr Moore said.
"And while conditions remain tougher for buyers searching in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, where the number of properties listed for sale remains below pre-pandemic levels, choice has improved for these buyers over much of 2022."
What to expect in summer months
Mr Moore said the spring ended much quieter than last year, which witnessed an extremely busy period on the back of strong market conditions.
"Home prices have been declining in nearly all cities, except Adelaide, after growth hit multi-decade highs in 2021," he said.
"As of November, prices were down 3.8% nationally from their peak in March. The Reserve Bank of Australia has continued to raise interest rates and is likely to continue to do so."
Mr Moore said property markets will be quiter over the next couple of months as buyers and sellers pause for the typically slow end-of-the year break.
"Looking further ahead, the fundamentals of demand in the housing market remain solid --- unemployment is very low and has continued to move lower in recent months. Wages growth, while running slower than inflation, has started to pick up, and international migration has returned, which is adding to housing demand."
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Photo by rattakun on Canva.
