Stock on market fell in December

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ScreenHunter_03 Jan. 30 13.18

By Leith van Onselen

SQM Research last week released its Stock on Market figures for the month of December, which revealed a sharp 8.5% drop in national residential listings over the month – which is typical for this time of year – with listings also 4.3% lower over the year:

ScreenHunter_734 Jan. 12 20.49

As shown above, there is some major divergence between markets, evident by a big 19.6% decline in annual stock levels in Sydney but an equally large 19.8% jump in listings in Darwin.

According to SQM Research:

Sydney continues to lead the way in terms of plummeting stock levels, recording a -19.6% fall in unsold properties on the market since December 2012, proving that stock is still being absorbed in this capital city at a faster rate than its counterparts…

SQM Research’s Asking Prices index has revealed that vendors of Sydney houses have lifted their asking prices by 14% over the last 12 months, further demonstrating the strength in the Sydney housing market recently…

Louis Christopher, Managing director of SQM Research says, “There were some rather large decline in listings over December, however that is to be expected for this time of year given how the housing industry shuts down over Christmas and much if January. Though the large year on year decreases in some cities such as Sydney are noted once again. Overall I see no evidence of any slowdown in the market itself with these numbers. And indeed our assign prices index recorded some very strong increases right throughout December. We are confident of a very strong market opening later this month.”

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.