In news that will surprise precisely no-one, Sydney’s housing crisis doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. But despite the relative lack of houses being built in Sydney, home sale listings across the city have surged in recent months – with PropTrack reporting a 27.7 per cent rise in listings in January 2024 – the largest jump since 2011. Is that because house prices in January 2024 reached an all-time high? Quite possibly. We spoke with the team at Domain to learn more about the current state of Sydney’s housing market.
"In 2023, the undersupply of new homes, cost-to-build blowouts, a growing population, and a tight rental market continued to boost housing demand, especially for established homes," explained Domain’s economist Dr Nicola Powell. "It's great for buyers to see an uptick in new listings. It also shows that vendor confidence is back in the market, largely due to a more positive outlook on interest rates and house pricing having fully recovered at the end of last year.”
In January 2024, Domain reported a 174.5 per cent increase in the number of listings in Sydney compared with the previous month – a figure that includes all property types, and reflects an increase in the confidence of sellers in Sydney, with 20.8 per cent more homes (units and houses) on the market than the same month last year. While Sydney’s property market saw a proportionally more significant rise in the number of units (the number of units on Domain rose by 195.2 per cent compared with the previous month), the number of houses on the market rose too (by 163.5 per cent).
While most cities across the country have seen a rise in listings, Sydney’s property market seems to be the one experiencing the most significant changes. While Sydney saw a monthly increase of 174.5 per cent, the city whose property market saw the second largest monthly increase was Darwin, which saw an increase of 143.5 per cent. As well as regular listings, Domain has reported an increase in auctions over the past few weeks, with 2,000 auctions set to take place in Sydney this coming weekend (March 2-3). According to Domain, the February auction numbers surpass those of some of the busiest auction weekends during the peak spring selling season.
The team at Domain has predicted that the anticipated interest rate cut could “spark further demand, with more buyers likely to enter the market, potentially leading to a price upswing".
Regardless, if you're interested in browsing, now might be the time when you can find plenty of variety. Keep an eye out for more insights from the Domain team over here. And if you’re looking to buy in the city, check out Domain’s list of the cheapest suburbs to buy a home close to Sydney CBD, here.