Home sales in South Australia were dismal -- however, there is no reason to panic.

The cold seemed to have bothered many home buyers in South Australia given the performance of the territory’s housing market over the third quarter of the year.

Industry figures show that for the September quarter, South Australia sold only 3,876 houses, slightly below the sales volume recorded in the previous quarter and during the same period last year.

Real Estate Institute of South Australia (REISA) President Brett Roenfeldt said the third quarter of the year is often a period of lull in South Australia's housing market.

"The cold winter months always bring in less activity, with the premium properties waiting for the warmer months to sell," he said.

Despite this, Roenfeldt is confident that home sales will bounce back over the next quarter and that the median price will remain at its record level.  For the said quarter, the median price actually increased by 0.3% from the previous quarter and by 3.11% from the same period last year.

"It shows that people are still willing to pay good dollar for premium properties that are transparently and accurately priced," he said.

In fact, there are South Australian suburbs which have seen significant growth over the past year, including Oaklands Park, Parkside, Tea Tree Gully, Glen Osmond, Kilburn, and Gawler South. Meanwhile, Morphett Vale, Mawson Lakes, and Paralowie turned out to be the best-selling suburbs during the September quarter.

Roenfeldt said South Australia continues to possess three factors which help boost its housing market: affordability, investment opportunity, and infrastructure.

"When affordability is right, the market remains confident and buoyant.  It is no surprise then that the top sales suburbs remain very constant throughout the year," he said.

Roenfeldt said the lacklustre home sales during the most recent quarter should not be a cause of panic.

“It is always tricky to comment on the third quarter every year as inevitably we see a decline in the volume of sales. I emphasise, however, that the results in the third quarter can never be taken as a sign of bad times to come or that the real estate market is not moving in the right direction," he said. "Sales will bounce back next quarter as they do every year and will reinforce the fact that South Australia is one of the best places in the world to live, work, invest and play."

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