May property market update (2023)
- Posted By Nikki Montaser
SQM Research has revealed national residential property rental vacancy rates continued to rise to 1.2% in April 2023, marking the third consecutive monthly rise. Across the past 30 days, national asking rents increased by 0.2%, and national vendor asking prices recorded a second consecutive monthly rise at 2.1%.
Vacancy rates
SQM Research has revealed national residential property rental vacancy rates continued to rise to 1.2% in April 2023. This marks the third consecutive monthly rise in rental vacancies.
Signs of population flow reversal back to the larger capital cities are demonstrated with vacancies rising to the highest levels recorded since 2020 for some regional areas, including; the NSW North Coast at 1.8%, Sydney’s Blue Mountains at 2%, Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula at 1.7%; Gold Coast Main at 1.3%; and the Sunshine Coast at 1.6%.
SQM Research believes that April marks the end of the rental crisis in Canberra, with the vacancy rate rising to 2%, and a sharp rise in Hobart to 1.6%, combined with triple the number of rental vacancies seen in April 2022 indicates the city may soon be out of its rental crisis
Rental vacancy rates increased across capital cities and CBD regions in April, with Louis Christopher, Managing Director of SQM Research commenting,
“Going forward, it is way too early to call the rental crisis over in our larger capital cities. The building slump, combined with extremely strong population growth rates will see to it there will remain an overall shortage of rental properties. We note however weekly rental listings nationwide have increased so far in May by another 3,000 rental listings. So, it is likely we will record another rise in rental vacancy rates across the nation for this current month.”
Rental values
Over the past 30 days to 4 June 2023, National asking rents increased by 0.2% for houses and units. Across the capital city averages, housing decreased by -0.3% while units increased by 0.3% rounding out to a 0% combined increase.
The highest increase in asking rents for apartments was seen in Adelaide units at 2.1% and for houses was Canberra at 1.7%.
Darwin experienced the sharpest decrease in asking rents at -6.1% for houses and -3.9% for units, followed by Hobart at 0.9% for houses and 1.7% for units.
The median rent for a capital city house is $762 a week while the rent for a capital city unit is $580 a week.
Over the past 12 months National asking prices have risen by 8.2% for houses and 11.9% for units, and Capital City asking prices have risen by 16.5% for houses and 23.1% for units.
Property prices
National residential property listings fell in May by 0.3% to 226,262 dwellings from 227,020 recorded in April. Nationally, new listings (Less than 30 days) rose by 3.0% in May, with 62,244 new property listings added to the market. Yet this represents a 16.9% decrease compared to May 2022.
Figures released on 6 June 2023 by SQM Research reveal national residential property listings fell in May by 0.3% to 226,262 properties, from 227,020 recorded in April 2023.
In May, there was a 3.0% increase in new property listings nationwide, with a total of 62,244 new listings entering the market. Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane experienced rises of 11.1%, 2.5%, and 2.9% respectively. Other cities showed varying results, with Canberra seeing a significant increase of 13.4%, while Darwin and Hobart experienced significant declines.
SQM Research predicts a decrease of 15% to 20% in new listings for June, which is attributed to the usual slowdown in activity during the winter season.
Nationally, vendor asking prices recorded a second consecutive monthly rise at 2.1% which SQM Research attribute to be driven by several sharp rises in asking prices on houses for regional Australia plus some ongoing rises in our larger capital cities. Hobart however experienced a 1.4% decline in dwelling asking prices.
Louis Christopher, Managing Director of SQM Research said “As we move into the winter months, it is quite likely we will record further drops in total national listings driven by a large drop in new listings, particularly if auction clearance rates hold at current bullish levels. Typically, new listings fall between 10% to 20% over the month of June due to the seasonal winter conditions.
“With reduced stock levels and more buyers in the market, property sellers have been lifting their asking prices and this in turn suggests official estimates of actual housing price changes will record another rise over June and perhaps into July, even with another lift in the cash rate on the cards.”
Cash rate and predictions
May saw the RBA increase the cash rate target to 3.85%.
Disclaimer: The information enclosed has been sourced from SQM Research and Reserve Bank of Australia, and is provided for general information only. It should not be taken as constituting professional advice.
PropertyMe is not a financial adviser. You should consider seeking independent legal, financial, taxation, or other advice to check how the information relates to your unique circumstances.
Article posted by Property Me.