Seasonality holds back December residential listings: SQM Research
Residential property listings nationwide fell in December, down 5.2% from November 2015, according to SQM Research, to end at a total of 343,618 listings.
Managing director of SQM Research Louis Christopher said year-on-year results, a better indicator due to the seasonality of December show large rises in Sydney with Melbourne listings noticeably down.
"While the headline may record a decline in listings for December, the truth is there is heavy seasonality this time of year. Therefore the yearly result is a better indicator of the market," he said.
"And on that front we are recording large rises in Sydney while Melbourne listings are noticeably down. To me this is yet another indicator of the slow market that Sydney is now experiencing and the contrasting Melbourne market which this information suggests, is firming.
"Year-on-year results indicate that residential property listings are up for most capital cities. Notably, property listings in Sydney and Canberra are considerably higher than this time last year (December 2014). Sydney experienced a yearly rise of 16.2%, with residential property listings climbing from 20,268 to 23,546. Canberra also experienced excessive yearly growth with sale listings up 14.2% based on a total 3,525 listings. These figures indicate that the number of property sellers in both residential markets has increased."
