Australia’s property market is shaping up to be quite soft throughout 2023 despite a small rebound in listings.
There was some renewed energy in markets across the country throughout May according to the latest listings report from PropTrack; however, activity is still “more subdued” than last year.
New listings on realestate.com.au increased by 18.7 per cent month-on-month in May, but that was not enough to break even with year-on year growth, which is down 16.8 per cent nationally.
Part of the monthly growth is due to the number of public holidays across April, which is traditionally a slow month for the market according to PropTrack economist Angus Moore.
“Activity in property markets bounced back across the country after the slower month in April when public holidays affected property market activity,” he said.
“That said, May continued the trend of slower property market activity in 2023 relative to the pace seen in 2022. In part, that reflects just how busy property markets were during the start of 2022.
The number of listings in Sydney, Australia’s most expensive property market, increased by 24.6 per cent in May however still remain 17.5 per cent lower than the level they were at last year.
Roseville on Sydney’s north shore received the biggest increase in new listings with 82 per cent of year-on-year growth, while Botany in the city’s south had the largest fall of 61 per cent.
Property listings in Melbourne grew by 17.4 per cent in May but still remain 19.0 per cent lower than 12 months ago, while Brisbane listings grew 22.1 per cent but still sit 21.3 per cent below May 2022 levels.
Three suburbs in Melbourne – Donnybrook (117 per cent), Beveridge (115 per cent) and Deanside (114 per cent) – have bucked the trend and more than doubled their listings in the past year.
Mr Moore said buyers could expect to see a soft market for the months to come.
“With the autumn selling season now behind us, market activity is likely to be a little slower over the next few months during the typically quieter winter period before picking up again for spring,” he said.
However, it is not all bad news, as the report states that “the fundamentals of housing demand remain strong”.
They are that unemployment has remained at close to multi-decade lows, wages growth has started to pick up, there are signs inflation is subsiding, and international migration has also resumed.