Australian renters are spending a record share of their gross median household income on housing costs, as a chronic shortage of rental stock drives rents higher across the country. Cotality’s Rental Review Q1 2026 shows national dwelling rents increased 2.1% over the three months to March, up from a 1.2% increase in Q4 2025, indicating…
Low vacancy rates have driven home rents higher over March with most capital cities again reporting higher results for both houses and units. Darwin was the top performer with house rents up by 5.5% followed by Sydney and Hobart each higher by 2.5%, Canberra up 1.7%, Perth higher by 1.4%, Melbourne up 1.3%, Adelaide higher…
Talk of a recession in Australia has picked up in recent weeks. Rising fuel prices, a sharp fall in consumer confidence, and signs of softer spending have all added to concerns the economy may be losing momentum. A recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. By that standard, Australia is…
Australia’s property market has just hit another record… According to the latest PropTrack Home Price Index, the national home prices rose to a fresh record in March, extending the current upswing, but the pace of home price growth is slowing, National home prices increased 0.3% in March, taking the national median home value to $908,000….
Cotality’s national home value index rose 0.7% in March, taking dwelling values 2.1% higher over the first quarter of the year. At the national level, the pace of gains is easing, reducing from a 2.8% increase in Q4 last year, but housing outcomes are increasingly diverse from city to city and across the pricing spectrum….
Just when many borrowers thought the worst of the rate hiking cycle might be behind them, Westpac has thrown a curveball, signalling we could be heading into a far more prolonged and painful phase of tightening than most expected. Well, Westpac has upped its cash rate forecast for the year, tipping the RBA will deliver…
A drawn-out war in the Middle East could add an extra 5% to existing inflation in Australia, our new modelling shows. We looked at the likely impacts of two different scenarios: a moderate disruption with the war ending in mid-April, and a drawn-out war ending by September. We found higher fuel costs would affect freight,…
Australian housing resale profits strengthened in the December quarter, with the share of properties selling at a gain rising to its highest level in more than two decades. Of the 102,000 resales analysed in Cotality’s Pain & Gain report, 95.9% recorded a profit, up slightly from 95.6% in the previous quarter and the strongest result…
Australia’s housing loan market is facing potential headwinds, particularly in the investor segment, amid speculation around changes to the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) discount for investors and a cap on negative gearing. Despite that, according to Money.com.au’s latest State-by-State Mortgage Insights Report, home lending growth is forecast to hit 7% in 2026 (to 594,279 loans),…
For many Australians, Saturday mornings during the property selling season follow a familiar pattern. Buyers move from open home to open home, then gather outside properties, waiting for the auction to begin: hopeful, nervous, and often optimistic. But for too many potential buyers, those Saturdays end in frustration. Not simply because they lost the auction, but…
