Economists and analysts said that at the beginning of this year, all capital cities except Melbourne had fewer homes listed for sale, which will further push up the already rising housing prices. CoreLogic’s new data shows that as of January 10, the total number of houses for sale in all capital cities fell by nearly 18% year-on-year to close to 66,000. New listings rose by nearly 11% to close to 9,000. But this is almost entirely due to the 55% surge in the number of newly listed houses in Melbourne. Since the relaxation of private viewings and travel restrictions at the end of September, Melbourne’s active sellers have flooded the market.
Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital, told AFR that in view of the fact that low interest rates and numerous government stimulus measures have caused demand to be quite strong, the decline in the number of housing listings heralds rising housing prices. Oliver said: “Except for Melbourne, the lower number of listings is in line with the normal cyclical rebound. As in mid-2019, the low number has increased the auction clearance rate and thus the price.” A more important reason is Melbourne’s population. Migration to the locality, according to official data released in November, there is more population movement from Melbourne to the locality than any other capital city.
Melbourne’s net loss of 8,000 people in the June quarter was the largest quarterly net loss on record, while Sydney’s net loss of 6,000 people was the smallest quarterly net loss since September 2016.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/property-prices-australia-for-sale-2021-1