The Federal budget on May 12 changed the rules for property investors in ways that most people are still working through, and Westpac’s economics team has now put some concrete numbers around the likely market impact. If you’ve been wondering how to think about the combination of the tax changes and rising interest rates, I’ll…
Australia’s property market has just been hit by a fresh wave of uncertainty. Last week, Dr Andrew Wilson and I discussed the Federal Government’s major property tax changes, and as we said at the time, these changes matter because they alter the rules for investors, but they don’t magically fix the deeper problems in our…
A lot has happened in a fortnight, and if you’ve been watching the headlines, you could be forgiven for feeling like the ground has shifted beneath the property market. The RBA had already raised rates three times this year, taking the cash rate back to 4.35% – effectively unwinding every cut made in 2025. Two…
![Adelaide housing market update [video] | May 2026](https://cdn.propertyupdate.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/adelaide-270x200.jpg)
The Adelaide property market continues to stand out as a highly resilient performer, with Cotality’s latest index tracking a dwelling value increase of 1.1% in April. This result marks the seventh consecutive month where local values have advanced by more than 1.0%. While southern capitals like Sydney and Melbourne experience outright contractions, the South Australian…
![Perth housing market update [video] | May 2026](https://cdn.propertyupdate.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Perth-city-270x200.jpeg)
The Perth property market continues to outpace the rest of the nation, with Cotality’s latest index tracking a substantial dwelling value surge of 2.1% in April. This rapid growth injected approximately $21,280 into the local median home value over a single month. While eastern states face multi-layered headwinds and outright value declines, the Western Australian…
![Brisbane housing market update [video] | May 2026](https://cdn.propertyupdate.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/brisbane-270x200.jpg)
The Brisbane property market continues to exhibit notable strength, with the latest Cotality data revealing a dwelling value increase of 1.2% in April. This gain injected approximately $13,750 into the local median home value over the month. While the Queensland capital continues to comfortably outperform southern counterparts like Sydney and Melbourne, its broader expansion path…
Fresh data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released today shows the unemployment rate climbed to 4.5% in April, up from 4.3% in March, with employment falling by around 19,000 people in the month. The unemployment rate is now at a level above Federal Treasury and the Reserve Bank’s forecasts, and that’s before the full…
![Sydney housing market update [video] | May 2026](https://cdn.propertyupdate.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/sydney4-270x200.jpg)
The Sydney property market is moving through a distinct structural transition, with Cotality’s latest figures showing a dwelling value contraction of 0.6% in April. This decline marks the fourth monthly downturn out of the last five for the harbor city, leaving the local market sitting 1.0% below the peak recorded in November last year. While…
![Melbourne housing market update [video] | May 2026](https://cdn.propertyupdate.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/melbourne-1-270x200.jpg)
The Melbourne property market continues to face persistent downward pressure, with the latest Cotality data showing a dwelling value dip of 0.6% in April. This extended downturn represents the fifth consecutive monthly decline for the Victorian capital, pulling overall values down a cumulative 1.9% from the November cyclical high and leaving them 2.3% below the…
The national housing market is navigating a distinct cyclical turning point, with Cotality’s National Home Value Index rising by just 0.3% in April, taking the slowest monthly growth recorded since January 2025. While values continue to trend higher on a national level, the pace of appreciation is clearly losing momentum as the housing cycle moves…
