![Melbourne housing market update [video] | April 2026](https://cdn.propertyupdate.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/melbourne-1-270x200.jpg)
Melbourne’s housing market recorded a 0.2% decline in March, marking the fourth consecutive month of falling dwelling values. This persistent weakness has resulted in a cumulative decline of 0.9% since November 2025. The downturn is primarily concentrated in the detached housing sector, while units have shown a relatively milder contraction during this period. The market…
The national housing market recorded a 0.7% rise in March, taking the quarterly growth to 2.1%. While values continue to trend higher, the pace of appreciation is gradually losing steam compared to the 2.8% lift seen in the final quarter of last year. This national average, however, masks a significant and growing divergence between the…
SQM Research released its latest data on residential rental property vacancy rates. Australia’s national residential vacancy rate fell to 1.0% in March 2026, down from 1.1% in February. The total number of residential vacancies declined to 31,732 dwellings, marking a continued tightening in rental market conditions nationwide. The March result indicates that strong tenant demand…
There is no doubt that our housing markets are facing challenges from all directions, but clearly, they have remained resilient. To better understand what’s happening, this monthly collection of charts from Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) paints an interesting picture. Buying a home for roughly the same cost as renting might sound unlikely in Australia’s current housing market,…
SQM Research’s Weekly Asking Prices Index for the week ending 30 March 2026 showed mixed short-term movements, though annual growth remains strong. Nationally, asking prices eased slightly over the month, with houses down 0.5%, units up 0.3%, and combined dwellings falling 0.4%, while still 12.0% higher year-on-year. Sydney (-0.8%) and Melbourne (-0.1%) recorded slight monthly…
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…
National home prices increased in March to a new high, with Cotality’s national home value index rising by 0.7%, taking dwelling values 2.1% higher over the first quarter of the year. Perth surged 7.3% over the quarter, while Melbourne values are down -0.9% from the November high and the Sydney market is down -0.4%. Every…
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….
