Home sales take double the time to sell in parts of Sydney, Brisbane

Days on market in some of Australia’s capitals has doubled over the past year but PropTrack economist Cameron Kusher warns it is not a sign of worse to come.

Homes in some parts of the country are taking double the time to sell than they did in January last year. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Brenton Edwards

Homes in Sydney are taking more than double the time to sell than last year as buyers hold out for ­interest rates and property price certainty.

Data from property researcher PropTrack has found the time it takes to sell a house in outer southwest and northwest Sydney has doubled in 12 months to an average of 28 days, with the NSW Central Coast also experiencing a twofold increase to 44 days.

Brisbane’s north and western suburbs and the Moreton Bay ­region have experienced an 80 per cent jump in the time it takes to sell a house, now up to around 40 days.

But PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said the increase in timing should not raise alarm. After homes sold at record speed through the pandemic, he believes the market is getting back to a normal rhythm despite the lower number of properties available.

“It really does highlight how much conditions have shifted over the last 12 months,” he said.

“Time on the market was still generally lower than it was before the start of the pandemic.

“Given how much interest rates have risen over a short period of time, we’d expect that levels would head back towards those longer-term averages at least.”

The blowout in the time it takes to sell a home is being experienced mainly in private treaty campaigns, with Ray White NSW chief executive Tim Snell noting ­stronger performance at auctions.

“The volume of buyer demand is probably the same, it just takes more time to get that through,” Mr Snell said.

Mr Kusher said he expected homes would continue to sit on the market longer, but warned that low stock levels nationally meant they would not be languishing for long.

Hobart recorded the largest growth in days on market across both houses (up 166.7 per cent) and units (up 145.5 per cent).

Homes are tipped to continue to sit on the market longer, but low stock levels nationally mean they would not be languishing for long. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gaye Gerard

However, the nation’s southernmost capital also has the fastest-moving property, selling between 24 and 27 days on average after falling to as low as nine days in January 2021.

It is a sign of balance returning to the market, View Property principal Adrian Kelly said, with buyers and sellers on an even footing.

“When interest rates started to rise, confidence came out of the market and property took longer to sell,” he said.

Mr Kelly said lifestyle properties were still sought after by interstate seachangers, but noted “blue collar” areas of the capital where there is a healthy level of properties for sale were struggling.

On the flip side, the market is speeding up over the past 12 months in Cairns (from 48 to 38 days), Adelaide’s central and Hills suburbs (from 47 to 40 days) and South Australia’s Barossa and Yorke region (from 86 to 67 days).