Winter property market warms up as buyers and sellers come out to play

Traditional market trends were turned on their head this winter, with new data from PropTrack showing listings and sales in July were higher than last year and buyer enquiry remained strong. REA senior data analyst Karen Dellow said the market has been buoyant during the colder months, with sales in July 19 percent higher than last year and 16 percent higher than the five-year average.

“In contrast to 2022 and 2023, where sales dropped month-on-month from June to July, this year recorded a 10 percent uptick, which is highly unusual for this period,” Ms Dellow said. “Cities like Hobart, Brisbane, Adelaide, and regions like the ACT have experienced robust growth compared to last year, while Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth had moderate increases.”

Ms Dellow said the increase in sales was partly the result of an increase in listings, which is also unusual for winter given most people prefer to sell in Spring. In July, there were 12 percent more new listings on realestate.com.au than last year. Across the combined capital cities, there was a 14.4 percent increase while regional Australia saw a 7.9 percent uplift.

The hottest property market in the country, Perth, recorded the highest increase in new listings in July, up 16.5 percent. “Despite a significant housing shortage exacerbated by high demand, new listings are quickly snapped up, with total listings in Perth down by 20.2 percent compared to last year,” Ms Dellow said. “All other cities except Darwin had an increase in new listings in July and experienced year-on-year growth.”

Data also indicates continued strong buyer demand in Winter, with each listing on realestate.com.au attracting an average of 10 buyer enquiries in July, Ms Dellow said.

“This is equal to July 2023 and slightly higher than 2022. Given the increase in listings in July 2024, overall activity was higher. Adelaide and Brisbane lead in enquiries per listing, with 23 and 22 enquiries, respectively.”

Bucking the trend is Melbourne with eight buyer enquiries per listing in July, down 16 percent compared to 2023. “Despite increased listings in Melbourne, fewer buyers are in the market compared to other cities, as the city grapples with the highest property taxes in the country and a slower return in investors compared to the other states,” Ms Dellow said.

“A busy winter bodes well for the spring selling season … and with expectations of no further interest rate rises this year, buyers are likely to be out in force and remain active throughout the remainder of the year.”

Spring is typically the strongest selling season of the year in Australian real estate. CoreLogic data shows that over the past decade, new listings have increased by an average of 18.2 percent in Spring and sales have lifted by an average of 8.3 percent.

CoreLogic head of research, Eliza Owen, said: “Looking at spring of 2024, it is possible we could see demand come under pressure from a continuation of high interest rates, slowing economic conditions and low consumer sentiment, and sellers may struggle in two of the state capitals in particular.” Those two capital cities are Melbourne and Hobart, with Ms Owen describing them as fairly flat or falling markets at the moment. Conversely, Perth and Adelaide are particularly strong.

Many luxury hotels only build on their gilded reputations with each passing decade. But others are less fortunate. Here are five long-gone grandes dames that fell from grace—and one that persists, but in a significantly diminished form.

The Proto-Marmont |

The Garden of Allah, Los Angeles

A magnet for celebrities, the Garden of Allah was once the scene-making equivalent of today’s Chateau Marmont. Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner’s affair allegedly started there and Humphrey Bogart lived in one of its bungalows for a time.

Crimean expat Alla Nazimova leased a grand home in Hollywood after World War I, but soon turned it into a hotel, where she prioritised glamorous clientele. Others risked being ejected by guards and a fearsome dog dubbed the Hound of the Baskervilles. Demolished in the 1950s, the site’s now a parking lot.

The Failed Follow-Up |

Hotel Astor, New York City

The Astor family hoped to repeat their success when they opened this sequel to their megahit Waldorf Astoria hotel in 1904. It became an anchor of the nascent Theater District, buzzy (and naughty) enough to inspire Cole Porter to write in “High Society”: “Have you heard that Mimsie Starr…got pinched in the Astor Bar?”

That bar soon gained another reputation. “Gentlemen who preferred the company of other gentlemen would meet in a certain section of the bar,” said travel expert Henry Harteveldt of consulting firm Atmosphere Research. By the 1960s, the hotel had lost its lustre and was demolished; the 54-storey One Astor Plaza skyscraper was built in its place.

The Island Playground |

Santa Carolina Hotel, Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique

In the 1950s, colonial officers around Africa treated Mozambique as an off-duty playground. They flocked, in particular, to the Santa Carolina, a five-star hotel on a gorgeous archipelago off the country’s southern coast.

Run by a Portuguese businessman and his wife, the resort included an airstrip that ferried visitors in and out. Ask locals why the place was eventually reduced to rubble, and some whisper that the couple were cursed—and that’s why no one wanted to take over when the business collapsed in the ’70s. Today, seeing the abandoned, crumbled ruins and murals bleached by the sun, it’s hard to dismiss their superstitions entirely.

The Tourism Gimmick |

Bali Hai Raiatea, French Polynesia

The overwater bungalow, a shorthand for barefoot luxury around the world, began in French Polynesia—but not with the locals. Instead, it was a marketing gimmick cooked up by a trio of rascally Americans. They moved to French Polynesia in the late 1950s, and soon tried to capitalise on the newly built international airport and a looming tourism boom.

That proved difficult because their five-room hotel on the island of Raiatea lacked a beach. They devised a fix: building rooms on pontoons above the water. They were an instant phenomenon, spreading around the islands and the world—per fan site OverwaterBungalows.net , there are now more than 9,000 worldwide, from the Maldives to Mexico. That first property, though, is no more.

The New England Holdout |

Poland Springs Resort, Poland, Maine

The Ricker family started out as innkeepers, running a stagecoach stop in Maine in the 1790s. When Hiram Ricker took over the operation, the family expanded into the business by which it would make its fortune: water. Thanks to savvy marketing, by the 1870s, doctors were prescribing Poland Spring mineral water and die-hards were making pilgrimages to the source.

The Rickers opened the Poland Spring House in 1876, and eventually expanded it to include one of the earliest resort-based golf courses in the country, a barber shop, dance studio and music hall. By the turn of the century, it was among the most glamorous resort complexes in New England.

Mismanagement eventually forced its sale in 1962, and both the water operation and hospitality holdings went through several owners and operators. While the water venture retains its prominence, the hotel has weathered less well, becoming a pleasant—but far from luxurious—mid-market resort. Former NYU hospitality professor Bjorn Hanson says attempts at upgrading over the decades have been futile. “I was a consultant to a developer in the 1970s to return the resort to its ‘former glory,’ but it never happened.”