PropTrack report reveals strong start to 2024 for Australia’s property market

Australia’s property market experienced a strong start to 2024, with the busiest January and February since 2012 across the combined capital cities, according to the latest PropTrack Listings Report.

The report found that nationally, there were 16.6% more new listings year-on-year in February, with capital cities leading the busier activity and recording the most new listings for a February since 2012.

PropTrack Senior Economist Angus Moore said the busier start to the year was supported by strong demand, low unemployment, strong population growth, tight rental market conditions, and a more stable outlook for interest rates.

“Markets are no longer expecting a further increase in interest rates, with an expectation of cuts as soon as the second half of this year. This is driven by the fact inflation appears to be coming under control sooner than the RBA had initially anticipated,” Moore said.

While regional areas were a little quieter, they still saw a 7.8% increase in new listings year-on-year in February, broadly in line with the pace of activity typical for the month over the past decade.

The total number of properties listed for sale across February was up 12.3% month-on-month nationally, with all markets across Australia recording increases.

Sydney and Melbourne had particularly busy Februarys, with Sydney recording 33.6% more new listings and Melbourne recording 35.4% more compared to the same time last year.

However, activity was not as strong in many of the smaller capitals, with Brisbane and Adelaide seeing activity around 5 to 10% slower than has been typical for the past decade.

Conditions remain challenging for buyers in Perth, with the total number of properties listed for sale still down 25.4% compared to the same time last year, despite some improvement in recent months.

Regional NSW and Victoria saw solid increases in new listings compared to the same time last year, continuing their trend of improving activity and choice since the end of 2021.