Spring selling season to be ‘messy and soft

Stubbornly high interest rates will make this year’s residential property spring selling season ‘messy and softer’, experts say.

Home sales nationally in July were 19 per cent higher than last year.

Stubbornly high interest rates will make this year’s spring selling season “messy and softer”, with each capital city market likely to respond differently to an influx of homes hitting the market, experts say.

Warmer weather typically marks the start of the busiest time of year for housing sales. After an unseasonably busy winter, economists are expecting conditions to be softer than they have been in recent years.

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said delays by the Reserve Bank to deliver a rate cut would dampen sentiment. “I think it’s kind of messy … there’s been imminent rate cuts now for a long time,” Dr Oliver said.

“I suspect that that ongoing delay is having a negative impact, and that’s why we’ve seen listings pick up in several cities.”

Some banks have already began trying to entice buyers back with cheaper fixed rates.

“I think the demand will be there, but it just may not be strong enough to match the pick-up in listings we’re likely to see. So it could be a little bit of a softer one,” Dr Oliver said.

Home sales nationally in July were 19 per cent higher than last year, led by robust buying levels in Hobart, Brisbane and Adelaide, according to PropTrack data. The lift in the number of properties listed for sale was a contributing factor to the change, also up 12 per cent.

SQM Research managing ­director Louis Christopher anticipates spring listing counts will rise 15 to 20 per cent above 2023 levels, which will force auction clearance rates lower as buyers have more choice. But, he said, each city would react differently. Dr Oliver believes price growth is already slowing in some cities.