A surprise fall in stock on market has sparked hopes of a housing recovery.
SQM Research has reported unexpected decline of 3.8% in stock on market since July: a total of 362,793 residential property listings nationally, a decrease of 14,522 month-on-month.
“The results for August have been surprising,” says SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher. “We were expecting a rise in listings and instead we have had a noticeable fall.”
Hobart stood alone as the only capital city to see an increase in listings, with 2.2% (76) more stock on market - a total of 3,536 property listings. The capital city to experience the largest drop was Perth, with 20,207 listings - 7.1% (1,546) less than in July.
“This still could be a seasonal effect,” notes Christopher, “and it also could be vendors withdrawing their properties on the hope of relisting during better market conditions. Nevertheless, our base case here is that listings will rise during the spring selling season.”
The stock on market results are still significantly higher than last year, however. Nationally, property listings have risen by 69,229 since August 2010 – a year-on-year increase of 23.6%.
This increase can be seen in all capital cities, with the largest in Melbourne. A total of 44,522 listings were recorded - an increase in Melbourne’s stock by 56.8% (16,127) over the year.
