Property Update - September 2026

Monthly highlights
 

• Higher valued dwellings in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra have led the way lower, with upper quartile houses in the two largest cities already down by over 10%. The mid-sized capitals have shown a smaller and more even decline across house segments. Upper quartile units are substantially lower in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, but show only modest falls in the ACT.

• The rolling quarterly trend for national dwelling values was down 3.1% over the three months to August.

• Declines in national home values became more widespread over August, extending to most capital cities on the rolling four-week measure.

• According to Cotality estimates, 41,118 homes were transacted through August, bringing the national 12-month rolling sales estimate to 527,173. Over the twelve months to August, national home sales fell 2.7%, with a clear divergence between the combined capital cities and the combined regional areas. Year-on-year sales volume fell 5.2% across the combined capital cities, while sales across the combined regional markets rose 1.8%.

• Discounts have increased across the combined capitals, with the median vendor discount reaching 4.2% over the three months to August, the largest in at least two years. The median vendor discount for the combined regional areas increased from 3.3% in the first quarter of this year to 3.8%, the highest reading since January 2025. Nationally, the discount reached 4.0% from around 3.1% at the start of the year.

• The four-week average auction clearance rate was tracking at 49.5% at the end of August, holding below 50% since early June. Clearance rates have risen slightly across Melbourne and Sydney but remain well below average, while Brisbane's four-week average clearance rate was the lowest at just 32.8%. The high share of properties being passed in suggests buyer and vendor price expectations remain misaligned.

• The annual rate of growth in national rents was 5.7% in August, a slight easing from earlier months when the annual growth rate was 5.9%. Both the combined capitals (5.7%) and combined regionals (5.8%) are closely aligned, but, rental growth differs a lot by city, with Darwin up 11.4% and regional Tasmania up 9.7%, while Canberra (3.2%), regional Victoria (3.8%), regional Northern Territory (4.4%) and Sydney (4.8%) are the weakest.

• The Reserve Bank of Australia kept the cash rate on hold at 4.35% in August, it’s the second consecutive meeting without a change. This follows three straight rate hikes between February and May. The decision was in line with consensus expectations after a softer-than-anticipated June inflation reading.

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