More homes are for sale in Sydney and Melbourne, July data shows

Total property supply is at its highest level across the combined Australian capitals for the month of July, according to the latest data from Domain.

Among the new ‘for sale’ listing leaders are Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra and Sydney, with Melbourne posting its highest housing supply on record for the month.

Days on market numbers have also risen for houses, which means new house listings are taking longer to move, usually a good thing for prospective buyers.

These figures are notable because July is usually a quieter period for homebuyers, given fewer sellers tend to hit the market in the colder winter months.

Sydney and Melbourne markets improve for homebuyers

Surprisingly, Sydney and Melbourne are among the capitals experiencing longer stretches of ‘for sale’ time.

Perth and Hobart have also seen a monthly increase for days on market, as per Domain.

The two data sets together suggest that sellers are willing to test the market at present, and that there may be more opportunities to buy than there have been for much of 2024 to this point.

Chief of research and economics at Domain, Nicola Powell says there’s been a steady stream of new home listings throughout autumn and winter, consistently topping the five-year average in most capital cities.

“Demand has held up, thanks to rising investment and first-home buyer activity, but the higher supply is definitely testing how deep buyer interest really goes,” she said.

“Sellers seem confident, and with many cities heading into the spring selling season with supply higher annually, buyers will have more options than they've had in years.”

Property market steadies, more homes still needed

Domain also notes there are still not enough new homes being built to keep up with population growth.

There's a widely held expectation among experts that when more homes are added to tighter markets such as Sydney and Melbourne, that price growth should somewhat stabilise.

However, median price points in major cities such as Sydney remain high, with Corelogic reporting property in the city at a median price of $1.17m for houses and apartments combined.

In most data reporting, houses in the harbour city are typically above $1.6m, while house prices in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth aren’t far behind.

So more property on the market should only help those on the buyer side of the ledger in the larger and more competitive capital cities.

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