INDUSTRY NEWSNEWS

Core Logic Weekly Wrap – Census Data and Housing Supply

As our population continues to grow, so too does our need for more housing. The 2016 Census housing data shows an increase in housing stock between 2011 and 2016, and how the types of housing being built in capital cities have changed over those years.

Despite being in the midst of a nationwide dwellings construction boom over recent years, the total volume of housing stock increased by a lower proportion in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart between 2011 and 2016 than they did between 2006 and 2011.

CoreLogic research analyst Cameron Kusher observed that over the five years between the Census collection periods, a shift towards denser housing stock being added to the capital cities is evident. He said it is medium-density housing that is ramped up the most, rather than high-density housing as most people would assume.

“In Sydney (17.9%), Melbourne (61.0%), Brisbane (29.6%), Adelaide (46.5%), Perth (49.4%) and Canberra (36.9%) it was medium-density housing types which recorded the greatest increase in stock over the five years.”

While separate houses remain the dominant property type, the proportion of separate houses has fallen. Despite this, medium- and high-density housing is a small but increasing proportion of the overall housing mix.

“Ten years ago in Sydney, 61.7 per cent of housing stock was separate houses, and in the latest Census 55.7 per cent of housing stock was separate houses. If this trajectory continues, by the 2026 Census less than half of Sydney’s housing stock will be separate houses,” Mr Kusher said.

He added that the construction of medium- and high-density dwellings is likely to remain high.

“I believe we’ll see [that] the shift towards a greater proportion of capital city housing being medium- and high-density will continue over the coming years.”

National auction wrap-up

Auction activity across the combined capital cities will be slightly subdued this week, with 1,588 auctions currently being tracked by CoreLogic, down from last week’s final result of 2,001 auctions held.

However, activity is expected to be higher than what was seen over the corresponding week last year (1,399). Sydney is expected to see the most significant fall in volumes over the week, down 29 per cent, while in Canberra volumes are expected to rise by 67 per cent.

Sydney is scheduled to host 600 auctions this week, down from 724 last week, while in Melbourne 728 properties are set to go under the hammer, decreasing from the 801 auctions held last week. Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth will also see a fall in volumes over the week.

Summary of auction results

  • The final auction clearance rate across the combined capital cities increased week-on-week but was still below the 70 per cent mark for the fifth consecutive week.
  • There were 2,001 capital city auctions last week, with 67.3 per cent of the 1,768 results reporting as successful, increasing from the previous week’s 66.5 per cent across a higher volume of auctions (2,355).
  • In Sydney, the final auction clearance rate recorded 68 per cent of the 840 auctions as successful last week, the fourth consecutive week where the clearance rate has been below 70 per cent – lower than the week prior when the final clearance rate for the city was 68.2 per cent across 939 auctions.
  • Across Melbourne, the final clearance rate increased only slightly last week, recording a 70.8 per cent rate of clearance, compared to 70.7 per cent over the week prior. However, there was a lower volume of auctions last week with 874 properties taken to auction, down from 1,047 the previous week.
  • Across the smaller capital cities, clearance rates improved in Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Tasmania, while Adelaide’s clearance rate fell week-on-week.
  • Of the non-capital city regions, the Geelong region was best-performing in terms of clearance rate with 77.1 per cent of homes selling, while the Gold Coast had the highest number of auctions (55).

 

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Azal Khan

Azal Khan was a in-house features writer for Elite Agent Magazine.