Australia’s rental markets are tightening again, with vacancy rates falling across most capital cities and remaining at historically low levels. Yet, rather surprisingly, asking rents eased in many cities over August. So, has the rental crisis finally reached a turning point, or is this simply a temporary pause before rents begin rising again? And what…
Thinking of hiring a Buyers Agent to see you through these difficult times? Think again…. For most of the last five years, property investing in Australia has been forgiving. You could have picked a suburb almost at random — Melbourne aside — and still come out ahead. In that kind of market, the order you…
Australians are regularly told that inflation is running at a certain annual rate, yet many households look at their mortgage payments, rent, electricity bills, council rates, and insurance premiums and wonder whose cost of living the official figures really measure. Their experience feels very different because the headline Consumer Price Index is an average across…
SQM Research’s Weekly Asking Prices Index for the week ending 1 September 2026 showed relatively subdued monthly price movements nationally, while annual growth remained positive. Nationally, house asking prices eased 0.1% over the month, while unit asking prices increased 0.2%. Combined dwelling asking prices declined 0.1% month-on-month and remain 5.0% higher year-on-year. Sydney combined asking…
Australia’s housing market has clearly entered a downturn, and prices are likely to fall further in some markets. Higher interest rates have reduced borrowing capacity, confidence has weakened and the Federal Budget has changed the investment equation for established residential property. Sydney and Melbourne are already recording meaningful declines, transaction volumes have fallen sharply and…
Cotality’s national Home Value Index fell 0.9% in August, marking a fifth consecutive month of decline and taking national home values 3.6% below the market peak recorded in March. The downturn is becoming more widespread, with 93% of capital city suburbs recording a value decline through winter. Every month, investors, homeowners, and would-be buyers turn…
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…
Does it feel like your money isn’t working as hard as it used to? Costs are up, growth has stalled, and the “just wait and it’ll go up” strategy has gone quiet – you’re not imagining it. We may not be staring down a repeat of the 1970s, but we are living through the same…
You’ve finally found it. The property that ticks every box, the one you can picture yourself living in for years or the investment property you still want to own in 10 years’ time, and now your heart is pounding because you have absolutely no idea what happens next. Do you just call the agent and…
Every property downturn since I started investing decades ago has brought the same prediction. Someone, somewhere, tells us this is the one that finally breaks the market. Higher rates, a cost of living crunch, gloomy headlines about mortgage stress. All the ingredients seem to be there for a proper collapse. And yet here we are…
