The Spring Selling Session is Underway by Leigh Martinuzzi
Typically, spring is a strong selling session in Australia with many homeowners deciding to sell and make a move before Christmas. In Australia what has been observed in the past is an average spike in the number of new listings by approximately 16%. In Queensland, as we are less partial to noticeable changes in weather, the spring selling session is a little more subdued however we still see a spike in listings by 10 to 12%. It will be interesting to see what happens this spring session, however, early signs are already showing a lift in properties coming to the market for sale.
In the last few weeks, every capital city across Australia has seen an increase in new property listings. Although trends are still below the five-year average by about 3.9% we’ve seen a surge in new homes coming to the market with more noticeable increases in those states that have been affected by continued lockdowns. According to CoreLogic even though new listings are up by about 10% since our low in September, new listings are down 21.6% since the peak in March 2021.
Looking at the charts and new listing trends, compared to the past couple of years there doesn’t seem to be a massive difference. New listings in 2021 are up this time last year by about 4% and almost on par with new listings pre-pandemic in 2019. From the peak in March to the slowdown in August, lockdowns are likely the key cause of this, new listings have been trending higher than the five-year average and well above that of 2019.
It appears that new listings coming to the market right up to the end of the year may reach levels above that experienced pre-pandemic. Usually, we see new property listings peak in November to levels slightly higher than the Autumn selling session before a significant drop in December and January when the property market becomes largely inactive. This year we may see the November high push out into December and even January as restrictions give more homeowners confidence in selling and moving on.
What is also interesting is that in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast we haven’t seen a large decline in new listings since the peak in March. Yes, it’s fallen slightly but not as dramatically as many of the other states. Maroochydore and Buderim have recorded some of the highest volumes of sales in Australia leading up to the end of the June quarter of 2021 meaning many new listings have come available for sale.
This being the case I wonder if Queensland homeowners have come to the market sooner to take advantage of increased buyer demand and prices and therefore, maybe we will see a slowdown in new listings coming to the market as we head into spring. Whatever the case it is expected the NSW and Victoria who are already noticing new listing spikes up to 50% in the last few weeks will see a flood of sellers looking to sell and then buy into the Queensland market. This will put increased pressure on buyer demand and prices in Queensland and even if new listings lift here, it is unlikely we will see a decline in prices or urgency over the next 6 months.
