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House sales have reached their highest levels since before the GFC, although they may have peaked, according to new research.
RP Data has estimated that there were 484,000 property sales in 2013/2014, which was 9.9 per cent higher than the previous year.
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That included a 10.4 per cent rise in house sales to 349,000 – the best result since 2007/2008.
Unit sales were also estimated to have grown 8.6 per cent to 135,000, which would be the highest number since 2009/2010.
The 484,000 property sales were driven by 21.3 per cent growth in Tasmania, 14.8 per cent growth in Queensland and 12.9 per cent growth in NSW.
Sales are also believed to have increased in three states: South Australia by 9.3 per cent, Victoria by 7.5 per cent and ACT by 0.3 per cent.
However, there were falls of 0.2 per cent in the Northern Territory and 1.3 per cent in Western Australia.
RP Data senior research analyst Cameron Kusher said Sydney and Melbourne sales volumes appear to have already peaked, although they may rebound again during the spring.
“Overall, we would expect a reasonably high number of sales [in Australia] this financial year, however final numbers may be slightly lower than in 2013/2014,” he said.
Mr Kusher also said an increase in transactions was arguably more important for market participants than an increase in values.
“More sales means more commission for agents and brokers, more lending for banks and more business for valuers,” he said.
[Related: Prices skyrocket in big cities, crawl in smaller capitals]
