Listings are piling up in some suburbs in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, but demand seems to be keeping up with the increased supply.
The number of houses listed for sale has more than doubled in some Adelaide suburbs compared to a year ago as more sellers take advantage of the strong demand and large capital gains in the past four years, new data shows.
House listings are also piling up in some of Melbourne’s outer suburbs, while units for sale are surging in Sydney’s western district according to analysis by Nerida Conisbee, Ray White chief economist.
But a rise in listings may not necessarily spark declines in prices as evidence emerges – in separate analysis by PEXA – that demand is also growing, with more buyers active in the market despite higher interest rates.
“Adelaide is a very strong market at the moment and there are plenty of buyer interests from around the country, not just within South Australia, so more vendors are looking to cash in while the market is hot,” she said.
“I think those in Melbourne may be motivated to exit the market because of the taxation system.”
Adelaide’s outer suburbs Roseworthy and Virginia posted the sharpest increases in the number of houses listed for sale in the past 12 months, jumping by 181 per cent and 103 per cent respectively.
House listings also surged across other Adelaide suburbs Mount Barker, Angle Vale and Aldinga Beach, increasing by up to 85 per cent.
Melbourne’s Clyde North recorded the largest number of houses added to the for sale market at 364 or a 17 per cent increase, taking the total to 2364.
House listings rose by 4.2 per cent to 2867 in Tarneit in Melbourne’s west, it lifted by 11 per cent to 1377 in Point Cook and were up by 7.4 per cent to 1307 in Sunbury.
Melton South and Weir Views are also recording a marked increase in listings, giving more options to buyers, said Kent Lardner, founder of Suburbtrends.
“Current property listings were up by 32 over the past three months and inventory has also risen slightly by 1.06 months, indicating more properties are available than buyers,” he said.
In the unit market, listings have more than tripled in Tallawong in Sydney’s north-west, dominated by new town houses coming into the market, Ms Conisbee said.
Meanwhile, unit listings in other Sydney suburbs Box Hill, Parramatta, Quakers Hill and Pendle Hill jumped between 29 per cent and 91 per cent in the past 12 months.
By contrast, house listings have plummeted by 207 per cent in the Perth suburb of Byford and slumped by 58 per cent in Banksia Grove.
Similarly, unit listings declined by 68 per cent in the Gold Coast suburb of Southport, they fell by 45 per cent in Surfers Paradise and were down by 28.6 per cent in Broadbeach.
All things being equal increased supply should weigh on prices, but separate analysis by online conveyancing platform PEXA shows there are more buyers in the market.
The total property settlement volumes increased by 6.5 per cent across Australia’s biggest states in the March quarter compared to the same period last year.
In volume terms, a total of 154,700 individual property titles were transacted, which is 6.5 per cent higher than a year ago.
Queensland racked up the largest number of property sales with 43,084 settlements, while NSW recorded the sharpest growth rate of 10.9 per cent over the year.
PEXA Group’s chief economist Julie Toth, said despite high inflation and interest rate pressures in 2023, property sales volumes recovered relatively quickly and have remained buoyant, indicating strong market demand fundamentals and buyer confidence.
“Our latest data indicates a resilient property market that is gaining momentum despite the challenges of high inflation and interest rate pressures,” she said.
“Stable interest rates, solid employment and falling inflation are supporting demand for housing and suggest a positive outlook for the remainder of 2024.
“Further property price rises have stoked concerns about worsening affordability and seen a return of FOMO in locations with particularly limited supply.”
Melbourne suburb Tarneit posted the largest number of homes sold in the March quarter across the country with 1192 changing hands.
Craigieburn in the city’s north recorded 913 sales in just three months, while Cranbourne and Clyde North bagged 705 and 657 home transactions respectively.
In Sydney, buyers stormed Bankstown, Marsden Park, Macquarie Park and Kellyville, snapping up a total of 2026 homes in those suburbs in the past three months according to PEXA.
Buyers also targeted Sydney’s outer ring suburbs Gosford, Liverpool, St Marys and Oran Park, where they bought a total of 1580 homes during the same period.
Properties on the Gold Coast were also in high demand with Surfers Paradise and Pimpama notching up 574 and 521 sales respectively.
The rise in listings in suburbs such as Tarneit and Clyde North appear to attract similar demand.
During the March quarter, a total of 1081 new loans were taken to buy a home in Tarneit, 579 new loans for Clyde North and 811 in Craigieburn.
“Demand is being buoyed by high growth in net migration, jobs and household formation,” Ms Toth said.
“Construction supply constraints are limiting the rate at which new homes can be added to the market, and so demand for established homes is likely to continue to outpace supply.”
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