New listings have surged a month before Christmas across capital cities, an unusual sight for a typically slow month for housing activity.

REA Group’s latest PropTrack Listings Report showed that new listings on realestate.com.au increased by 12.5% in November, reaching a multi-year high and marking the third consecutive month of double-digit gain.

On an annual basis, new listings in November were 44.5% higher.

PropTrack economist Angus Moore said market activity continued to soar in November as sellers made up for lost time after the lockdowns.

“Across Australia’s capital cities, new listings reached their highest level in a decade,” he said.

“This is a strong result for November, which is typically seasonally a little weaker than October.”

“However, this year’s peak was pushed back by the delayed start to the spring selling season due to lockdowns.”

Due to the delayed start to the spring selling season, Mr Moore said December might be busier than usual, with sellers who were held back due to lockdowns gearing up to make a sale before Christmas.

“As buyers and sellers pause for the Christmas break, property markets will be quieter over the next couple of months.”

Mr Moore said selling conditions are likely to remain strong until early next year before moderating from the high level of activity witnessed in recent months.

“Measures of buyer demand remain high but have eased slightly in November. At the same time, new supply coming to market has meant buyers have had more options to choose from than has been the case for much of this year,” he said.

Buyers in Sydney were met with more options last month, as the wave of new listings reach the strongest level since 2015.

Sydney’s South West and Sutherland registered the highest growth in new listings over the past month.

In Melbourne, new listings reached their highest record after growing 11.2%.

Brisbane also welcomed more homes to the market in the month, with new listings rising by 14.4%, the highest since 2018.

The housing market was also busy in Adelaide, which reported a 23.9% increase in new listings — the highest growth in seven years.

New listings also soared in Perth, growing by 14.8% in the month to reach the highest level since 2014.

Meanwhile, Hobart reported the biggest gain at 42.4% while Canberra registered a 22.1% growth in new listings.

Darwin reported a marginal growth in new listings, up by only 0.4%. Still, new listings in the city surpassed their levels in 2020, up by 68.9% annually.