How fast will your house sell?

Naturally, this is one of the first questions sellers must prepare for when entering the market. Nationally, the median number of days it takes to sell a house has stabilised to 31 days but the nuances between cities and suburbs can make all the difference.

Perth leads Australia as the fastest-selling capital city, with houses taking just 13 days to sell. While this is up slightly from nine days last year, it still represents a decade low. The numbers are remarkable: 76 per cent of Perth suburbs sell within 0-14 days, and another 21 per cent sell within 15-30 days. This means 97 per cent of all Perth suburbs typically sell properties within a month, with virtually no suburbs (just three per cent) experiencing slower conditions. The market has completely flipped from buyer-dominated to intensely seller-favoured, with Perth claiming 8 of the top 10 fastest-selling suburbs nationally.

Brisbane follows as the second-fastest selling capital city, with houses spending a median of 21 days on the market. The city shows strong market health: 19 per cent of suburbs sell within 0-14 days and 64 per cent sell within 15-30 days. Combined, 83 per cent of Brisbane suburbs maintain healthy selling conditions, with only 16 per cent experiencing slower markets. Brisbane shows remarkable consistency, with five suburbs selling within 8-9 days across a tight price band of $522,500 to $750,000.

Adelaide emerges as Australia's most representative property market. Over the past 10 years, Adelaide has consistently maintained the smallest difference from national averages, making it the best indicator of Australia's overall market performance.

Adelaide's median days on market has remained remarkably stable around the 32-day mark over the last three years, showing minimal volatility compared to other capitals. This steady performance closely aligns with Australia's national average. Adelaide sits in the middle ground, it's neither slow nor fast. No suburbs have a median days on market under 14 days, while only 3 per cent take longer than 60 days.

Three cities are seeing increasing median days on market: Sydney, Hobart, and Melbourne. Each is nearing their decade high but telling different stories.

Sydney has moved from around 25-30 days a decade ago to its current 34 days, representing a significant slowdown. Interestingly, Sydney's three fastest suburbs - Bow Bowing, Fairlight, and Werrington County - all cluster around 7-9 days, but their price ranges vary dramatically from $915,000 to $3.4 million for Fairlight. This suggests that even in expensive markets, premium suburbs can achieve reasonable selling times when priced appropriately.

Melbourne's current 36-day median places it among the slower-selling capitals. However, the trend suggests a return to normal with median days on market for the last 10 years seeming to hover around 30 days, excluding a peak of 43 days that came right before the pandemic.

Hobart has experienced the most extreme market swings of any capital city over the past decade. The city began around 34 days on market in 2015, plummeted to single-digit levels during the mid-to-late 2010s, and has now climbed back to 35 days, essentially returning to where it started. The volatility is reflected in the suburb level too with an almost equal split of 48 per cent of suburbs with median days to sell under a month and 46 per cent selling within two months. To add to this, we have Seven Mile Beach ($1.04 million) which at just 6 days shares top spot as Australia’s fastest selling suburb.

Despite this volatility, Hobart demonstrates that pockets of exceptional performance can exist even in volatile markets. Seven Mile Beach ($1.04 million) shares top spot as Australia's fastest-selling suburb in just 6 days. However, Hobart's strength quickly diminishes, with Geilston Bay taking 12 days and Lutana requiring 14 days, showing the city's performance is highly location-dependent.

Over the last decade, Canberra and Darwin have consistently been the slowest of all capital cities.

Whilst the current median of 47 days might seem concerning, the distribution of data reveals Canberra has a unique selling pattern with the highest concentration (68 per cent) of suburbs selling in the 31-60 day period. This suggests a very methodical, deliberate market rather than a distressed one. This reflects Canberra's unique demographic of government sector employees and public servants, who may approach property purchases more systematically. Even Canberra’s fastest selling suburbs Hawker ($1.25 million) and Bonython ($900,000) take 23 days to sell.

Finally, while Darwin remains the slowest of all capital city markets, its current median of 54 days on market actually represents a decade low, having fallen significantly from peaks of over 70 days in recent years. That there are no suburbs with a median time to sell under one month might reflect Darwin's smaller population and limited economic drivers. Instead, 54 per cent of suburbs take 31-60 days to sell and the remaining 46 per cent take more than 2 months to sell. Darwin's fastest suburb, Durack ($562,500), takes 31 days to sell.