New house listings in September reach 10-year high: report

A pause in rate hikes has helped give buyers confidence as new home listings reach a record, almost-10-year high.Nathan Schmidt

The number of new property listings nationwide have hit their highest point in nearly a decade off the back of 15 consecutive months of growth in Sydney.

Released on Wednesday. the REA Group’s September PropTrack Listing Report found new listings were at their highest volume for the month of September since 2015.

Nationally, new listings rose by 2.8 per cent in September and 10.1 per cent annually, with year-on-year increases in new listings reported during 12 of the past 14 months.

PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said while it was impossible to say exactly why listings were as high as they were, nixed rate cuts were a factor.

“A lot of people had been anticipating interest rate cuts this year. They’ve now likely pushed out to next year,” Mr Kusher said.

“Maybe, some people felt like they could hold on until late this year (to sell), but another four to six months is a step too far.”

Other factors included the generally high amount of equity people had in their properties following a prolonged period of property price growth.

A slight loosening of the rental market, Mr Kusher said, was also making it easier for sellers to shed their properties before having another to move in to.

“People just look at the rental market in a vacuum, but a lot of people, when they sell their property, they don’t buy at the exact same time,” he said.