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New listings in Townsville, such as this one at 13 Boxwood Ct, Douglas, have dwindled in the past year. Picture: realestate.com.au

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Townsville homebuyers are faced with less choice compared to a year despite a boost in new listing numbers in January.

The latest PropTrack Listings Report found the number of new Townsville listings hitting realestate.com.au had shot up 39.6 per cent between December and January.

However, new listings were down 15.7 per cent year-on-year.

Total listings in North Queensland’s capital were also down 2.1 per cent month-on-month and 28.1 per cent compared to January 2023.

PropTrack senior economist and report author Angus Moore said this trend was also seen throughout Queensland.

In wider regional Queensland new listings were up 34.9 per cent between December and January but down 5.2 per cent from January 2023 figures.

Total listings were up 0.4 per cent monthly but down 12.6 per cent annually.

PropTrack senior economist, Angus Moore. Picture: Supplied

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In Brisbane, new listing activity picked up in January, sitting 89.3 per cent higher month-on-month and 4.8 per cent higher year-on-year.

“Even so, it was still a slower-than-usual start to the year (in Brisbane),” Mr Moore said.

“The number of new listings in January was around 7 per cent lower than what has been typical for January over the past decade.”

Mr Moore said total listings in Brisbane were up 5.8 per cent month-on-month but down year-on-year.

“The total number of properties listed for sale across Brisbane was 15.1 per cent lower than a year ago and was down more than 45 per cent from pre-pandemic,” he said.

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Mr Moore said listing activity across Australia was up compared to January 2023.

“Sydney and Melbourne experienced a particularly busy start to 2024 for new listings, while some other markets remain a bit more subdued,” he said.

All capital cities saw an increase in month-on-month new listings while Perth was the only one to see a drop year-on-year.

Looking at annual new listing data, Brisbane was sitting behind Darwin (125.5 per cent), Canberra (102.7 per cent), Melbourne (27.8 per cent), Sydney (27.7 per cent) and Adelaide (9.9 per cent) and ahead of Hobart (4.3 per cent) and Perth (-0.4 per cent).

The home at 111 Fryers Rd, Hervey Range, is newly listed for $695,000. Picture: realestate.com.au

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The combined capital city market saw a 115.2 per cent month-on-month increase in new listings and a 16.9 per cent annual increase.

In the combined regional market, new listings were up 21.6 per cent for the month in January and 16.9 per cent for the year.

“More activity in property markets than we were seeing in early 2023 is being supported by strong demand, very low unemployment, population growth, tight rental market conditions, and a more stable outlook for interest rates,” Mr Moore said.

“After raising interest rates in November, the RBA held steady in February – a widely anticipated decision.

“Inflation appears to be coming under control sooner than the RBA had initially anticipated.

“While there is a possibility of further interest rate increases if inflation turns out to be more entrenched than currently expected, financial markets are not expecting that will occur.

“Instead, financial markets are now expecting a reasonable chance that interest rates will decline later in the year.”