CoreLogic: Homes spent 32 median days on market before selling

The time it takes to sell a home is up slightly, and data shows Darwin and Hobart take the longest.

Residz Team 4 min read

There’s a lot of interesting stuff in CoreLogic’s September 2023 Month Housing Chart Pack data.

For a start, it takes about a month to sell a home, depending on where it is (which we’ll get to in a minute), and the combined value of Australian housing rebounded to $10 trillion at the end of August, the first time the total estimated value hit double digits since June 2022.

As CoreLogic indicates, that rise in home values is pretty surprising given the cost of living crisis, low consumer sentiment levels and four increases in the cash rate so far this year, amid the fastest rate hiking cycle on record.

Reasons for rebound

CoreLogic puts forward possible reasons for the bounce back: More overseas arrivals, a persistently low average number of people per dwelling across the capital cities, some people drawing down savings, equity or profits from previous home ownership to buy, and the constrained supply of homes for sale (leading to more competition).

It means the rolling 28-day change in the combined capitals home value index was up 0.9% in the 28 days ending September 5th.



Bit longer to sell a home

The amount of time it takes to sell property trended slightly higher through the three months to August, with the median days on market reaching 32 days. This was up from a recent low of 30 days in the three months to April.


For rural and regional vendors, it can be a longer wait for a buyer to sign on the dotted line.

Median days on market have continued to rise across the combined regional market, to 45 days in the three months to August. Houses can sell a bit quicker in the capital cities, with median days on market only 27 days for the combined capitals.

Selling a home takes much longer in regional Northern Territory (72 median days on market), regional Tasmania (63 days), Darwin (60 days), and Hobart (56 days). Yet, at this time last year Hobart homes could expect to spend just 18 median days on market before they were snapped up.

If you want to sell a home quickly, you’re better off owning a place in Perth (only 14 median days on market in August 2023), Brisbane (23 days), Melbourne and Sydney (29 days) or Adelaide (30 days).

Sellers discounting their properties by less

CoreLogic data also shows that, at the median level, vendors are now offering less of a discount on their property. It says the median vendor discount nationally was -3.8% in the three months to August, up from a recent low of -4.3% at the end of last year.

As you might expect, the cities with the longest median days on market also show the higher median vendor discounts.

Darwin and Hobart home sellers were offering the highest median vendor discount (-5.3%) to get their homes away, while regional Tasmania vendors offered -4.7%.  Perth vendors, by contrast, had to drop just -2.8% (the median vendor discount) to sell their homes.

More sellers are listing their homes

As we showed recently, there’s been a bit of a spring auction fling. And, CoreLogic’s latest data shows that new listings around Australia are slightly higher than the historic five-year average, and notably higher in Sydney and Melbourne than at this time last year.

36,320 homes were newly listed nationally in the four weeks to September 3, taking the national total to 135,951 in that time. The total listings are still trending lower than the previous five-year average, says CoreLogic, due to strong absorption from sales.

Auction clearance rates are averaging 66.1% in the four weeks ending September 3, 2023, slightly up on the month to August 6.

Rent going up but dwelling approvals down

And, no surprise to hear, rents increased a further 0.5% in August, taking the national annual increase to 9%. The rate of rise is slowing, however, which could be something of a comfort to tenants.

Finally, CoreLogic’s data does nothing to reassure potential home buyers about the ongoing housing crisis  Dwelling approvals fell -8.1% through July, driven by a -19.9% fall in unit approvals, while house approvals were more or less steady. For the past six months, dwelling approvals have averaged 13,355 per month, which is around 23% below the decade

monthly average.

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