The Property Council's June 2nd bulletin to members quoted the Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment survey falling 5.1% in April followed by a further fall of 7% in May – total of 12.1% in two months.

The index now stands at 97.6 – the lowest ‘confidence’ since August 2012 (less than 100 is negative confidence). RP Data’s research analyst Cameron Kusher predicts declining home sales in the months ahead.

Looking forward however, a separate RP Data survey revealed that 80% of people think now is a good time to buy – but when asked whether now is a good time to sell, just 37% said yes – meaning people will be delaying selling to get a better price later.