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Real estate agents have taken advantage of the warmer spring weather and ramped up their activity in the market place, according to RP Data’s Market Activity Index.
The index, which measures the level of real estate agent activity, is up 17 percent since the start of June and is 31 percent higher than the same time last year.
RP Data’s director of property research Tim Lawless told Real Estate Business that the coming weeks should see the size of the Australian real estate market expand considerably as more stock comes on the market and buyers take advantage of the warmer weather to investigate properties and attend open homes and auctions on the weekend.
“Rental rates across the country increased by 36 per cent over the three years to March 2009. Since this time weekly rents have peaked, with every capital city apart from Darwin recording declines in weekly rental rates over the last three months,” Mr Lawless said.
“The recent fall in rental rates can be attributed to an ebb in demand as more renters looked to buy, taking advantage of low interest rates and the boost to the First Home Owners Grant.
“With vacancy rates across the nation’s capital cities generally below 2.5 per cent, it is highly likely the recent fall in weekly rents will be short lived. Such low vacancies will continue to place upwards pressure on rents over the longer term.
“The number of new properties being added to the market place is up 11 per cent since mid-June as the spring selling season starts to ramp up. Over the last month there have been just short of 160,000 individual properties advertised for sale equating to $126 billion of housing stock on the market.
“The number of properties being advertised for sale is actually lower than the same time last year reflecting the buildup of stock last year and the subsequent absorbing of stock throughout the second and third quarters of 2009,” Mr Lawless said.
