Historic lows of housing stock turnover recorded for Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra

In comparison over the last nine years of all available data, the average transcations were at 5.5 per cent.

Throughout the capital cities, the transaction proportion over the last year was at 4.7 per cent, a new record low, compared to the average of 5.6 per cent.

Throughout each capital city and regional market, a number historic and record lows were recorded over the last year:

NSW

Sydney recorded a historic low of 4.7 per cent of housing stock transactions, while regional NSW was at 5.9 per cent, with both regions having a slowdown on their turnover.

Victoria

Melbourne’s housing stock turnover also was at a historic low of 4.4 per cent, and regional Victoria’s last year stood at 4.9 per cent; a fall in turnover for both markets.

Queensland

Unlike the typically high performers of Sydney and Melbourne, both Brisbane and regional Queensland markets were safely above record lows, both at 5.8 per cent. The Brisbane turnover was just below average turnover proportions, at 5.9 per cent, and regional Queensland was holding at average levels.

South Australia

The main South Australian markets were holding as what CoreLogic referred to as steady at 5.7 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively, slightly above long-term average levels.

Western Australia

Record lows were recorded for Perth at 3.6 per cent, while regional Western Australia was at 4.2 per cent, a recovery from record lows.

Tasmania

Both main markets in Tasmania were strong compared to long-term averages, with 5.9 per cent of stock in Hobart compared to 5.4 per cent, and 6.1 per cent of stock proportion in regional Tasmania compared to 5.3 per cent.

Northern Territory

With falling dwelling values, housing stock turnovers also fell, with 4.2 per cent of housing stock transactions for Darwin and 4.7 per cent of housing stock in regional Northern Territory.

Australian Capital territory

Canberra joined Sydney and Melbourne for recording a historic low, with 4.8 per cent of housing stock transactions.

According to Mr Kusher, these percentages were “stark”, despite the fact that the number of houses sold in Australia was small.

“A big driver of the low level of turnover over the past year has been relatively low levels of stock for sale, particularly in our largest capital cities and the high costs associated with stamp duty when buying a property,” he said.

“The impost of stamp duty discourages turnover as we have recently seen with the removal of stamp duty for first time buyers under certain price thresholds in NSW and Vic. Once removed there has been a surge in housing finance commitments by first home buyers.

“The final consideration for the low turnover is the high cost of housing in Australia, because the cost is high it is a significant consideration for households as to whether or not to purchase a property.”