New property listings surge 18.5% year-on-year in May, PropTrack data shows

New property listings on realestate.com.au rose 18.5% year-on-year in May, indicating strong vendor confidence, according to the latest PropTrack Listings Report.

The report found that new listings over the first five months of 2024 were 12.6% higher than the same period in 2023.

PropTrack Senior Economist Paul Ryan said, “May continued the strong increase in new listings seen over 2024, with new listings in the month 18.5% higher year-on-year.”

“Although sales volumes have remained strong in 2024, the surge in new listings has seen an uptick in the total number of properties advertised for sale across the country, with the increase in total listings most evident in Sydney, Melbourne and the ACT. But other indicators – notably continued price growth – suggest buyer demand remains strong,” he said.

New listings were higher year-on-year in every capital city except Hobart, with the ACT (+42.5%), Melbourne (+36.1%) and Sydney (+29.3%) recording the largest increases.

Regional markets also saw a solid 10.4% year-on-year increase in new listings in May, with only regional Northern Territory (-16.3%) and regional Western Australia (-0.3%) recording falls.

The higher rate of new listings resulted in more total listings than a year ago for all capital city markets except Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, where demand remained extremely strong. Perth had 23.4% fewer properties for sale than in May last year.

In contrast, total listings in the ACT were 32.4% above the level seen a year ago, while Melbourne (+24.7%) and Sydney (+17.7%) also recorded significant increases. Despite the increase in stock, these markets have continued to see price growth over the past year.

Mr Ryan said the outlook for the typically quieter winter period would depend on continued strong buyer and seller sentiment, as well as expectations for interest rates.

“New listing activity has been strong following Easter this year, but as we now move into the typically quieter winter period of the year, the outlook will depend on continued strong buyer and seller sentiment, as well as expectations for interest rates,” he said.