Residential resales down 28%, CoreLogic says – impact to flow onto village sales

More worrying news for retirement living operators.

The percentage of homeowners who sold at a loss increased in most of the capital cities in the June quarter despite the property market holding relatively steady according to CoreLogic’s quarterly Pain and Gain report.

The report – which looks at gross profit and loss at resale – shows the proportion of sales being finalised at a loss climbed in six of the eight capital city markets last quarter.

Overall, resales were down 28.2% from 72,500 transactions in the first quarter of the year to 52,000 transactions nationally.

Of those, the number of sales making a loss increased 50 basis points to 12.8% as the first wave of lockdown restrictions and the corresponding falls in employment and GDP hit home.

Worst off were Darwin and Perth were 51.2% and 36.2% of home sales were at a loss respectively.

Unsurprisingly given the weaker rental market in units nationally, only 79.3% of unit owners sold for a profit compared to 89.6% of home owners. Investors also recorded higher losses than owner-occupiers.

The numbers are bad news for village operators with the number of retirees holding off on selling in order to achieve a better price for the family home likely to increase.