‘Early spring’: property shift that could help home buyers

Parts of Sydney have seen a big jump in property listings after a prolonged sales shortage - and it could be a gamechanger for property seekers and prices.

Sydney’s spring home selling season has come early in some areas, with the greater choice of homes expected to give property seekers welcome relief from rising prices.

Many of the biggest listings increases were in the northwest and southwest, along with small pockets of the north shore and eastern suburbs.

It signals a change from recent months when much of the market was stuck in a listings slump that forced home buyers to compete harder for the limited housing available in their areas.

Experts said it was the main reason property prices have risen for the past eight months, despite record interest rate rises strangling buyers’ borrowing capacity.

Auction bidding has been strong in recent months because of a listings shortage. Picture: David Swift

And while this climate of housing shortages was expected to continue in most of Sydney for the next few weeks, new PropTrack data indicated there were areas showing green shoots ahead of spring.

These areas could also see more listings in the coming months as the traditional spring selling season gets underway – the period of the year normally marked by the highest listing numbers.

Southwest suburbs Roselands, Cobbitty, Edmondson Park and Oatley had the biggest listings rises over the past three months at 23-43 per cent, according to PropTrack.

Kellyville Ridge, Cherrybrook, North Ryde, Beaumont Hills and Rouse Hill in the northwest had rises of 16-31 per cent.

Wahroonga had the biggest rise among north shore suburbs at 27 per cent, while Kingsford and Coogee had the biggest increases across the eastern suburbs at a respective 19 and 18 per cent.

PropTrack economist Angus Moore said listing increases would take some of the heat out of some markets by giving buyers more choice.

PropTrack is now expecting price growth in the second half of 2023 to be more subdued than over the last six months due to the increases in listings.

Ray White economist Nerida Conisbee said more homeowners listing their properties for sale could break some of the deadlock in the market and encourage other homeowners to list.

Agents said it would be a quiet spring in some areas. Picture: David Swift

“So far, listing (shortages) have been self-fulfilling. People haven’t listed because there hasn’t been much for them to move to,” she said. “It will take more homeowners selling for other owners to eventually list.”

Adrian Tsavalas, the director of real estate group Adrian William, said it would still be a quieter spring compared to previous years, albeit not as strained a climate as in previous months.

“There will be more choice but it’s not going to be the bargain hunters market that many buyers have hoped, at least not in most areas,” he said.

Areas where listing volumes are plummeting, suggesting sales may be more competitive, included Central Coast suburbs Gorokan, The Entrance and Terrigal, along with Newport on the northern beaches.

Up until now, it has not been uncommon for more than 50 people to show up at open homes. Picture: David Swift

It comes as landlords are increasingly cashing out of the housing market because of higher interest rates, with the number of investor property sales hitting double the levels seen before the pandemic.

PropTrack figures showed 26 per cent of all NSW property trades in June, the latest period with available data, were rental properties – a 7 per cent rise since the RBA’s first cash rate hike in May last year.

Suburbs with the biggest rise in listings: (20-43%) Edmondson Park, Kellyville Ridge, Wahroonga, Roselands, Oatley, Cobbitty, North Bondi, Cherrybrook, North Ryde/ (11-19%) Kingsford, Camperdown, Beaumont Hills, Coogee, Rouse Hill, Westmead, Harrington Park, Mount Druitt, Five Dock, Ultimo, Lindfield

Originally published as ‘Early spring’: property shift that could help home buyers