Winter is traditionally a quiet season for the property market, but some cities and regions have seen higher sales volumes and unseasonably high buyer demand, suggesting that sellers are well positioned for the coming months.
Increased sales volume in some regions
Property transactions in Sydney and Canberra were up 13.5% and 8.5% in June compared to the same period last year. Perth and Hobart also recorded year-on-year volume increases.
So far, nationwide monthly sales volume in 2023 is lower than in 2022. However, sales volume has increased in the past few weeks. If this trend continues, sales in July will be above the previous year.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 450"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The market in 2021 and 2022 was very strong, so 2023 sales will be lower in comparison. However, sales are up compared to 2019 and 2020.
By this time last year, sales were down in every region except Canberra. This suggests that buyers are not feeling the cold this winter and are acting proactively.
In 2023, more enthusiastic buyers will seek real estate. Source: Getty Images.
Increased number of enthusiastic buyers
The number of enthusiastic buyers interacting with properties on realestate.com.au rose 0.6% year-over-year nationwide in June.
In fact, in the last four months, the platform has attracted more enthusiastic buyers than at any time in the last five years.
Even during 2021, when the market was extremely strong, the number of highly engaged buyers was lower than recorded in the last few months.
Growth drivers are the cities of Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Sydney, as well as rural areas of New South Wales, Queensland (QLD) and South Australia (SA).
However, not all capital cities and rural areas are seeing an increase in the number of enthusiastic buyers. Still, most regions in Australia have more active buyers per listing than last year, as listings are down in most regions.
Five of the capital’s cities posted double-digit growth, with Perth seeing a 38.8% increase in buyers per property.
Even in Melbourne and Adelaide, where the number of engaged buyers has declined overall, there are more engaged buyers per listing than last year.
house prices have recovered
Home prices rose for the sixth month in a row. It rose another 0.3% in June 2023, but prices are now just 0.1% lower than they were a year ago.
Looking at the capital combined, house prices are now slightly higher than a year ago, up 0.06%.
Median house prices in Sydney are up 4.5% from last year’s low point and are now just 3% below the peak recorded in February 2022.
Auction Success Rate Continues Strong
Auction sales are up 23% from the same period last year and down just 9% from 2021, when the market was incredibly strong.
Sydney and Melbourne have largely dominated the auction market, both with over 60% of successful bids through 2023.
A shortage of properties available in the market has reduced the number of scheduled auctions, but the number of auctions in both cities is still higher than before the pandemic.
in the next few months
July and August are traditionally quiet months, with many buyers and sellers choosing to hold off on buying until early spring. But so far this year there have been some off-season trends across Australia, suggesting buyers aren’t waiting for warmer weather.
Property sales are on the rise in Sydney. Source: Getty Images.
Inventory shortages are currently the biggest problem facing the real estate market, and demand remains high, limiting options for prospective buyers.
However, distributors are benefiting from high buyer demand and low competition from other vendors, which is the main reason prices are rising.