Tim is Research Director at Cotality (formerly CoreLogic), analysing real estate markets, demographics and economic trends across Australia. Visit www.corelogic.com.au
Australia’s housing downturn has stopped sparing anyone. Cotality’s National House Price Index fell 1.1% in September 2026, the sixth consecutive monthly decline, bringing the cumulative drop since March to 5.2%. Every capital city except Darwin recorded a fall over the September quarter, and 97% of capital city suburbs saw values decline across those three months….
Affordability and cost-of-living pressures have taken the heat out of Australia’s rental market, driving a marked slowdown in rental growth during the September quarter as vacancy rates rose to their highest level since January 2025. Cotality’s latest Quarterly Rental Review shows national rents increased 0.5% in the three months to September, a marked slowdown on…
Cotality’s national Home Value Index fell 1.1% in September, the sixth straight month of falling values. On a national basis, dwelling values are now 5.2% below their record highs from March 2026. Every capital city except Darwin recorded a fall in home values through the first month of spring, along with 71% of the regional…
The Reserve Bank’s decision to lift the cash rate by a further 25 basis points is expected to place additional downwards pressure on housing demand, extending the market slowdown that has emerged during the current tightening cycle. The increase was widely anticipated, with inflation remaining too high and recent inflation outcomes stronger than the RBA…
Home value declines spread sharply across Australia’s housing market through winter, with home values falling across 93% of capital city suburbs and every capital city except Darwin recording a decline over the past three months. Cotality’s national Home Value Index fell 0.9% in August, marking a fifth consecutive month of decline and taking national home…
Suburbs with a higher share of owner-occupied homes recorded significantly stronger long-term capital growth between 2010 and 2026, driven by a 34-percentage point performance gap across the unit market, according to new analysis from Cotality of 3,000 suburbs over 16 years. The performance divide is steepest in the unit market, where owner-occupied areas deliver more…
Cotality’s national Home Value Index (HVI) dropped 0.4% in June, marking the largest month-on-month fall since December 2022. A 1.2% decline in Sydney home values served as the most significant drag on the headline result. Melbourne followed closely with a 1.0% decline, while ACT values fell 0.6%. The mid-sized capitals recorded a sharp slowdown in…
For investors, Australian housing is a low-yielding asset class. The gross yield measures annual rental income (before expenses) as a proportion of a property’s value. Across the combined capitals, the gross rental yield was tracking at 3.45% in May, a little higher for units at 4.47% and lower for houses at 3.12%. Gross yields tend…
Cotality’s national Home Value Index was flat in May, with the housing cycle continuing to weaken across most markets. Beneath the flat national result, Sydney and Melbourne are leading the downturn, with dwelling values falling by 0.9% and 0.8% respectively in May, to be 2.1% and 2.9% below their cyclical highs in November last year….
Cotality’s national home value index rose 0.3% in April, the slowest pace of growth since January 2025, just ahead of last year’s rate-cutting cycle. The national result was dragged lower by Sydney and Melbourne, where values fell 0.6% over the month. Sydney home values are now 1.0% below their November peak, while Melbourne values are…
