This week's property round-up

Reported sales jumped dramatically this week due to a combination of a general increase in activity ahead of Easter, a drop in listings, plus the end of month reporting deadline that picks up some lagging sales.

Total reported activity was up by 240, or 34%, due to stronger dwelling sales with negligible change in the land sales. Despite the end of quarter surge, aggregate sales data for the March quarter 2015 is down 14% on the March quarter 2014 with house sales off 12%, multi-residential activity down 16% and land sales off 22%.

The other notable feature this week is the 4% drop in listings, which are down 600 on last week due to the stronger sales activity and limited new listings being posted ahead of the Easter break (the second biggest market downturn across the year after the festive break). Rental listings are continuing to rise, lifting 1% to pass through the 6,600 mark.     

After achieving a record peak in September 2014, total building approvals in WA have trended down for the past five months based on the latest data from the ABS for February.

Despite the downturn, approvals remain at high levels driven by stronger multi-residential this cycle as private sector house approvals in WA have been trending down since March 2014. By comparison, national approvals continue to trend up driven by growing multi-residential approvals as private sector approvals have flattened off. Both New South Wales and Victoria, and to a lesser extent Queensland, have been the driven force in the increasing gap between private house and total approvals, which reflects the strength of the multi-residential sector in those states.