The property market is cooling off but the downturn is concentrated at the premium end of the market, with affordable properties becoming harder to find.
The number of homes listed below $600,000 on realestate.com.au has fallen to a record low.
Despite rising interest rates triggering a slowdown in the residential property market, the share of homes advertised on the site for less than $600,000 has plunged to 35.8 per cent.
In March 2020, 52.5 per cent of listings on the site were below this price point.
That's despite a 3.53 per cent drop in national home prices from the pandemic boom peak, as per PropTrack's October price data.
Affordable homes are disappearing fastest in the regions, with the number of homes under $600,000 shrinking from 71.2 per cent to 45.6 per cent since the pandemic started.
In the capital cities, homes at this price point have dropped from 42.5 per cent to 30.6 per cent.
Canberra has the smallest share of affordable homes, with homes below $600,000 making up only 1.4 per cent of listings.
PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said more homes would likely appear on the market at affordable price points as the housing downturn continued.
"However, it seems unlikely that we'll see a significant uplift in the share of new listings under $600,000, which highlights ongoing affordability challenges," he said.
