Housing market flat in August quarter
The retail housing market remained flat during the August quarter, but the number of properties for sale continues to outweigh the number of new home loans.
The Commonwealth Bank's Home Buyers Index (HBI) is compiled in conjunction with RP Data, which describes itself as a "provider of property information to the Australian real estate industry".
The HBI is based on the ratio of the number of properties for sale compared with the number of housing loans that are being committed to by CBA customers.
If the number of properties advertised for sale outweighs the number of home loans it is deemed to be a "buyer's market", and an area with fewer properties available than home loans is viewed as a "seller's market".
According to the August quarter figures, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin are currently "buyer's markets"; Brisbane and Hobart are "extreme buyer's markets"; and Melbourne and Canberra are considered "balanced markets", according to the RP Data report.
RP Data national research director Tim Lawless said some capital cities like Melbourne and Canberra were beginning to "balance out, offering some encouragement to prospective sellers".
In fact, Canberra was listed as the top "seller's market" in a joint statement by CBA and RP Data, followed by the Pilbara in Western Australia, Loddon (Victoria), Central Highlands (Victoria) and Melbourne.
The top five "buyer's markets" were listed as the Sunshine Coast, the Lower Great Southern (WA), the Gold Coast, Wide Bay-Burnett (Queensland) and South East (South Australia).
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