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Staff Reporter
A significant fall in residential stock levels in most of the nation's capital cities in December could signal buyers are back, SQM Research has said.
The level of residential property listings around the nation fell substantially during the month of December 2012, with overall listings decreasing by six per cent and coming to a total of 341,784, SQM Research reported.
The drop was led by Sydney, which posted a 21.7 per cent fall in stock over the course of December, coming to a total of 24,959 listings.
“Although a decrease in stock levels around Christmas time is usually expected, this result is still considerably significant, revealing a yearly decline of 5.1 per cent also,” SQM Research said.
“If this trend continues, it could be possible that the level of unsold homes around the country has reached its peak and may now begin to decline.”
Managing director of SQM Research, Louis Christopher, said the result might indicate that buyers are back in the marketplace.
“While the drop in listings is normal for this time of year it doesn't normally fall to this extent,” he said. “Overall the spring selling season recorded a fall in listings in 2012. This is abnormal and could indicate increased buyer activity for the last months of the year."
In Adelaide, stock levels fell 4.6 per cent on-month to 16,556; in Brisbane, stock levels were down 6.8 per cent to 25,475; Canberra recorded 3,481 listings in December, down 15.2 per cent; Darwin came in at 1,086 listings, 8.6 per cent weaker; Hobart booked 4,501 listings, a 2.5 per cent fall from the month earlier; Melbourne saw listings plummet 10.4 per cent on-month to 41,833; and Perth posted listing numbers of 17,915 in December, down 4.4 per cent from November.
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