By Leith van Onselen

As shown above, all markets except Hobart experienced monthly rises in homes for sale, with only Melbourne and Hobart lower over the year.

SQM notes that the “rise is abnormal for July as sale listings are generally subdued this time of the year”. Moreover, “in Sydney and Melbourne the rises recorded are the largest for the month of July since SQM’s listings records begun in 2008”.

The mining bust epicentres of Perth and Darwin continue to add stock on market, with listings up by 23.5% and 34.8% respectively over the year. Meanwhile, Sydney’s listings are finally rising as well, up 18.5% in July and by 6.1% year-on-year.

Commenting on the results, Managing Director of SQM Research, Louis Christopher, noted:

“I believe the results do represent an indication that the measures undertaken by APRA in slowing investor demand are now having an impact on the market. At this stage it is too early to call the magnitude of the impact, however it is likely that the measures (which SQM still regards as moderate) will slow the rate of dwelling price inflation recorded, rather than create a price correction. “

Asking prices for Sydney houses continued to climb over July, with a total monthly rise of 1.5% for houses and 0.4% for units. The median asking price for a house has now reached $1,124,900 while the median unit asking price in Sydney is $619,500.

By contrast, median asking house prices in Perth continue to fall, down 4.2% for houses over the year and 1.2% for units. Darwin also recorded yearly falls, with asking prices for units down 7.9% over the last 12 months and houses down 1.2%.

Stock on market surges in July