Home listings pile up in Sydney and Melbourne amid falling prices

Home listings pile up in Sydney and Melbourne amid falling prices - Nila Sweeney - Australian Financial Review

Sellers racing to beat the competition – in a falling market already padded by properties that failed to sell in spring last year – have pushed up the volume of residential listings in parts of Sydney and Melbourne more than 50 per cent on last year, CoreLogic data shows.

As many as 16,579 properties were listed for sale in the broader Sydney market in the four weeks to January 19, up 6.7 per cent from the same period last year and 8.2 per cent higher than the previous five-year average, the CoreLogic figures show.

In Melbourne, 22,886 homes were up for grabs, up 1.1 per cent increase on a year earlier and 7.3 per cent above the previous five-year average.

Stock levels are piling up in parts of Sydney as more sellers come to market amid weak buyer demand. Peter Rae

“This time of the year is typically slow in terms of demand, but this goes beyond seasonality,” said Eliza Owen, CoreLogic’s head of research.

“There’s less appetite from buyers, but more sellers are coming into the market, which could indicate rising mortgage stress. It foreshadows further drops in home values as sellers might be compelled to reduce their asking prices to get a sale.

The downturn in Australia’s east coast-dominated housing market gained pace last month, separate figures from the data provider show. Melbourne’s month-on-month prices fell 0.7 per cent, nearly double the decline of November. Sydney home values fell 0.6 per cent, the most in a year.

That’s prompting many owners to bring their listings forward.

Melbourne’s Yarra district posted the sharpest increase in total stock in the city, jumping 55 per cent in the past four weeks. Listings in the area are now sitting 33 per cent above the five-year average as home values slumped by 5.7 per cent in the past year.

The number of properties for sale in Nillumbik-Kinglake, Darebin-South and central Melbourne climbed by 46 per cent, 36 per cent and 34 per cent respectively. Stock levels soared well above their five-year averages, rising between 19 per cent and 36 per cent.

“Quite a few local vendors have decided to sell, which means they are competing with more sellers,” said Cate Bakos, a Melbourne-based buyer’s agency.

“Prices can’t be expected to grow while we have higher stock levels and weaker buyer demand.”

In Sydney, total listings jumped by 52 per cent in Richmond-Windsor district over the four-week period compared to a year ago, lifting overall stock 27 per cent higher than the five-year average.

Listings climbed by 50 per cent across the southern part of the eastern suburbs and by 49 per cent in the Cronulla-Miranda-Caringbah region.

Meanwhile, the number of homes for sale in Manly, Sutherland-Menai-Heathcote and Hurstville ballooned by 35 per cent, 32 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.

“There could be an element of mortgage pressure among homeowners amid higher-for-longer interest rates and loosening in parts of the labor market that could be affecting mortgage serviceability and prompting more urgent sales,” Ms Owen said.

Listings also piled up in previously tight markets of Brisbane and Perth, where they climbed by 2.9 per cent and 6.4 per cent in the past four weeks, compared to a year ago, respectively.

Brisbane’s inner west, Sherwood-Indooroopilly and Forest Lake-Oxley recorded the sharpest increase in total listings, where they surged 49 per cent, 42 per cent and 36 per cent respectively.

Brisbane-based buyer’s agent Zoran Solano of Hot Property Buyers Agency said some areas could turn into buyers’ markets if listings continued to rise amid weaker demand.

“We saw quite a considerable uplift in the number of properties listed for sale in the past week, even when demand is slow,” he said.

“In some markets, we’re seeing less buyer activity than sellers would expect. For me as a buyer’s agent, it’s a positive sign that the power has shifted back a little bit towards buyers.”

In Perth, listings have surged in Cockburn, Kwinana and Stirling regions, where they jumped by 39 per cent, 32 per cent and 21 per cent over the past four weeks compared to a year ago respectively.

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