The boss of Realestate.com.au says while property market growth in Sydney and Melbourne might slow this financial year, he's expecting stronger results from Australia's smaller capital cities.
REA Group said on Friday that new property listings in Melbourne were up 21 per cent in 2023/24, while Sydney listings grew 22 per cent.
"Staying at these levels will be challenging, and therefore listings in Melbourne and Sydney may be marginally down (in 2024/25)," chief executive Owen Wilson said during a conference call on Friday.
"This would still be a very healthy outcome. On the other hand, we're starting to see the level the level of new listings increase in the smaller capital cities."
Listings in Brisbane was stable in 2023/24, with one per cent growth, while listings in all other metro markets declined, chief financial officer Janelle Hopkins told analysts.
But looking exclusively at the June quarter, while Sydney and Melbourne continued to outperform with 26 and 32 per cent gains, other metro markets returned to growth, Ms Hopkins said.
Brisbane listings rose 17 per cent, Adelaide listings climbed 10 per cent and Perth rose six per cent.
Rental listings remain subdued, down one per cent, Ms Hopkins said.
It was hard to determine how this financial year will shape for listings overall but it's clear the Australian property market was in good shape, with strong levels of demand supported by high employment levels and immigration, Mr Wilson said.
National buyer inquiries also returned to growth in 2023/24, rising 14 per cent to 2.2 million, with national listings rising seven per cent. Properties have been turning over more quickly.
Mr Wilson said REA Group expects interest rates to remain unchanged for the rest of this calendar year, but believes they could be on the way down for the second half of 2024/25, further bolstering the property market.
REA Group on Friday announced its revenue was up 23 per cent to $1.45 billion, and its net profit had climbed 24 per cent to $461 million.
The company claimed realestate.com.au had extended its lead over Domain in 2023/24 and received 127.2 million visits to the website on average each month.
REA shares were up 6.8 per cent to $202.49 on Friday afternoon.
