Property buyers reclaim control as more homes hit the market

Property buyers are experiencing the best market conditions since Covid-19 began, as the number of homes listed for sale rises to the highest level in years.

New listings were up 7.9 per cent in 2024. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

Property buyers are entering the new year with greater choice and bargaining power after a surge in the number of homes for sale in 2024.

The 7.9 per cent lift in the total number of new home listings in the year to December coincided with a slowdown in property price gains as buyers’ desperation eased, according to an analysis by housing researcher PropTrack.

Buyers in Sydney and Melbourne were the largest beneficiaries of the rises, with 12.7 per cent and 8 per cent more homes listed for sale respectively year on year.

REA Group director of economic research Cameron Kusher said the market had entered a ­period of buyer and seller equi­librium.

“The increase in listings has taken some of the heat out of the market and some of the desperation away from buyers,” he said.

“A couple of years before 2024, it was very much a seller’s market. You had not much stock, a lot of people wanting to buy, and sellers were getting really good offers. Now it’s certainly much more of a balanced market … buyers can ­afford to be a bit more selective.

“I would say it’s probably the best buying conditions we’ve seen since early on in the pandemic.”

While last year marked the highest levels of new listings in three years, conditions for buyers have vastly improved.

Homeowners hit the market in large numbers in 2021 as many looked to take advantage of ultra-low pandemic-era interest rates, which encouraged a fear of missing out among buyers and led to the fastest housing boom on ­record.

Mr Kusher said the 2024 increases in Sydney and Perth, where total listings rose 5.9 per cent, were likely a result of homeowners cashing out their capital gains. He noted a different situation might be playing out in Melbourne, where investors have been selling after the introduction of new property taxes.

Not all capital cities have recorded increases.

Some 2.6 per cent fewer homes were listed for sale in Adelaide last year, and Brisbane recorded a 0.8 per cent dip.

Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia (REBAA) president Melinda ­Jennison said the constrained supply was ­creating strong competition at the affordable end of the market as ­investors and first-home ­buyers competed for the same properties.

“Based on the fundamentals for Brisbane and the economic prosperity, infrastructure development, job opportunities, we’re going to see the demand-side drivers continue to escalate,” Ms Jennison said.

“If we don’t see a corresponding continual increase in the number of listings available, we’re going to move back into a really strong seller’s market faster than we know it.”

Total listing levels have been climbing steadily month on month across five capital cities, with Canberra (34 consecutive months) and Hobart (33 consecutive months) the most consistent.

Mr Kusher expects the trend will continue through 2025, with price growth continuing to slow.