Australian real estate has been characterised by three different types of shortage which have put upward pressure on rents and prices.

Those are the shortage of rental properties, the shortage of new dwellings under construction and the shortage of homes listed for sale.

While the shortage of rental homes and the under-supply of new homes persists, there has been recent improvement in the number of homes listed for sale by vendors.

SQM Research finds that the number of residential property listings nationwide rose by 8% in August, bringing the total to almost 250,000 properties, up from 231,000 recorded in July.

In annual terms, listings of homes for sale are now 11% higher than a year.

Nationally, new listings recorded a 12% surge in August, with over 73,000 fresh property listings entering the market.

Sydney new listings were the highest level ever recorded for the month of August, according to SQM.

It reports that total listings of homes for sale in August recorded significant increases across most major cities.

Even boom cities like Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide recorded major increases in the number of properties for sale.

Indeed, Perth had an 11% monthly increase in listings, reaching over 13,000 properties for sale – BUT Perth remains the only city with a significant yearly decrease, still 21% below August last year.

Canberra up 11% and Adelaide up 9% both showed solid monthly growth in listings – and Canberra experienced the largest yearly increase of all major cities at 32%.

Brisbane reported a moderate monthly increase of 7% in August, bringing the total to a little over 18,000 listings – which is 3.3% higher than a year ago.

These improvements in listings of homes for sale – which may be inspired by the belief that Spring is a good time to sell – may take some of the pressure off dwelling prices, particularly if the rise in action by vendors continues in September and October.