How is the spring selling season shaping up in Sydney’s eastern suburbs after a frenetic start to the year and a busier-than-usual winter?
We dive into the Sydney and eastern suburbs listings numbers to find out how spring is tracking, typically the busiest time of year for real estate.
How did the spring selling season start this year?
September usually brings a higher number of new houses for sale in Sydney’s residential property market since spring is typically the busiest time of year. However, this year, things were a little different. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the number of properties listed for sale actually fell 13% from August and 17.5% year-on-year in September. The number of new properties was also 10.3% lower than it was in September 2018, when the Sydney property market was experiencing a downturn. In the eastern suburbs, the drop in new listings was even greater – September’s new listings were 17.3% down from August’s, 30.6% down from the same time last year, and 14.4% down from September 2018.
What is the reason for the quieter-than-usual start to the spring selling season this year? This year, we had already seen plenty of sales activity before spring even began.
The market had a strong start to the year and, of course, a busy winter. It was also the one-off National Day of Mourning public holiday on 22 September, just before the spring school holiday, that affected listing numbers, with some sellers holding their property off the market until after the public holiday and school holidays ended.
In addition to the lower number of listings, some sellers delayed listing their current property for sale until they had more choices to buy. A rising interest rate made some sellers cautious about listing their property.
How did the Sydney property market fair in October?
With a relatively slow start to the year and a slow September, PropTrack reports a pick-up in new listings in October. Sydney’s new listings increased 7.1% over September, but the number is lower than in recent years since October is usually the busiest month for our city’s property market. Bondi Beach recorded the second-biggest decrease in new listings in Sydney year-on-year, with a drop of 65%. It is 31.2% down from last October.
In part, this has been due to a quieter October than usual, but mostly due to an easing of COVID restrictions that resulted in an increase in new listings in October 2021. Last year, the Sydney property market was going crazy to make up for time lost to lockdowns.
In October, Sydney’s total number of homes for sale fell by 1% from September. However, the total number of listings available is still 8.9% higher than it was a year ago, despite a quieter spring for new listings. It is also higher than the previous decade’s average, just as it has been for most of the last six months.
Based on SQM Research numbers, there were 36.3% fewer listings less than 30 days old in the eastern suburbs in October as compared to last year, whereas there were 5.4% fewer total listings.
How will Sydney’s property market fare now?
As the market rests from what was a very busy first half of the year, it’s not clear whether this represents a shift in gears for the market or whether it’s simply taking a breather.
The national housing market has cooled by 3.5% since March due to rising interest rates and inflation, but Sydney’s property market remains solid despite the softening of national prices. The national unemployment rate remains very low, dropping again in October to reach 3.4%. Meanwhile, international migration is on the rise and wages are expected to grow steadily in the coming year.
Vendors benefit from a property market with fewer listings. Sellers who list their property at a time when there are fewer listings face less competition from buyers. As a result of a reduction in the number of homes available for sale, prices remain steady.
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