Pain and Gain Report - June 2026
Cotality’s Pain and Gain report examines the performance of residential resales across the country. We analysed around 101,000 resales in the March quarter 2026, and here are the key insights:
- Resale profitability persists despite slowing housing value momentum: the share of dwelling resales recording a profit rose to 96.0% in the March quarter (compared with 95.9% in December 2025), the strongest performance since March 2025. This profitability was supported by strong growth in home values across the past few years, despite this momentum fading.
- Growth in home values has supported a new record median gain: in nominal terms, the median gain from a dwelling resale was $377,000 in March (from $365,000 in December) while the median loss was unchanged at $45,000.
- Houses remain more profitable than units: 98.1% of house resales recorded a gross profit in the March quarter, compared with 91.9% of units. Unit losses remain concentrated in a few key markets.
- Brisbane retains its crown as the most profitable capital: 99.8% of resales in the March quarter recorded a profit, with a nominal gain of $525,190.
- Resales in regional markets have outperformed the cities: 97.7% of resales in regional markets were profitable in March, compared with 95.0% for the combined capital cities. Relatively modest increases in regional home values limited the median gain when compared with the capitals.
- Noosa takes top spot among LGAs, but WA dominates the list: lifestyle market Noosa recorded the strongest median gain of any LGA in March at $729,750, with 99.3% of resales recording a profit. The rapid growth in Perth dwelling values saw five WA LGAs in the top ten most profitable municipalities in the quarter.
- Longer hold periods drove house profitability, while units were impacted by local conditions: the median hold for a loss-making house resale was just 4.3 years in March, compared with the 9.1 year hold of a profitable resale. The hold time for a loss-making unit was actually longer than the profitable resale, with location being a key driver.
- Near term outlook: Cotality’s national hedonic home value index recorded no growth in May, with declines already underway in Sydney and Melbourne. While most capital cities (with the notable exception of Melbourne) have seen sizeable increases in home values over the past five years, declining values in the near term will mean that there is less of a clear path to profitability in coming months. That said, conditions are likely to remain divergent between individual city markets and between the house and unit sectors.
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