Residential Listings and Clearance Rates Higher
Total residential listings of major Australian cities have increased even as home values have declined. This trend is being observed in an environment of softening demand and weaker conditions. Auction clearance rates were also tracing higher at the end of July.
CoreLogic’s figures indicate that there were 21,849 new residential properties and 108,436 total properties listed for sale over the 28 days to 22 July. While new listings were down 6.7% over last year, total listings jumped 7.2%. New listings are properties that were not advertised over the last six months while total listings encompass new listings and re-listings.
| City | New residential listings | Change from 2017 | Total properties for sale | Change from 2017 |
| Sydney | 5,601 | -13.1% | 26,103 | 21.7% |
| Melbourne | 6,821 | -4.8% | 30,029 | 10.5% |
| Brisbane | 3,789 | -3.2% | 19,738 | 1.2% |
| Adelaide | 1,646 | -8.5% | 7,798 | -2.8% |
| Perth | 3,007 | -1.0% | 20,618 | 1.7% |
| Hobart | 344 | 8.5% | 951 | -23.6% (historical low) |
| Canberra | 465 | -18.4% | 1,753 | -4.9% |
In Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, the increase in total residential listings and fewer new listings suggest that existing stock is not moving quickly and consequently, vendors are not enthusiastic about bringing new stock to the market.
The auction clearance rate across capital cities stood at 58.4% at the end of July. In the final week, 1,534 homes went to auction throughout the seven cities, with total auctions in Melbourne at 803 and none in Tasmania. Canberra recorded the highest preliminary clearance rate since the week ending 31 May, with 72.2% of 36 auctions sold or cleared. Sydney had a clearance rate of 56.6%.
Back in June, clearance rates were down in Melbourne and Sydney, the former being at the lowest level since 2012 and latter falling to a multi-year low. Both are the country’s busiest auction markets. The combined clearance rate across the capital cities for the month was 55.3%. The numbers were attributed to the long weekend in most states and territories courtesy of the Queen’s Birthday.
Many Australian homeowners are choosing to sell their property in the face of the housing market downturn. The market’s health – indicated by the number of new listings – seems to be suffering a bit. The higher number of total residential listings also points to the challenges being faced in finding buyers.