Despite February being a good month for listings, only Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra recorded gains in the month, according to the latest figures from SQM Research.
Overall national listings hit 295,969, representing a marginal uptick of 0.2%. Sydney and Melbourne did the heavy lifting with their respective gains of 9.9% and 10%. Listings in Canberra also grew by 3.8%.
Louis Christopher, managing director at SQM Research, said the three cities reported significant increases in new listings over the month, up by 60% from the past month.
"However, we are down for the year in all cities as absorption rates have picked up. There are many more buyers now compared to last year, and so surplus stock is being sold and taken off the market," he said.
The chart below shows the monthly and annual difference of listings in each capital city:
In terms of asking prices, houses registered an annual increase of 8.3% while units reported a minimal gain at 0.4%. SQM Research said there was a lag in the growth of asking prices for units due to the ongoing issues about the structural quality of buildings.
Hobart reflected the most substantial increase in asking prices for both houses and units on an annual basis.
On the other hand, Darwin and Perth recorded declines in both housing segments.
The table below shows the asking prices in each capital city.
