Everything you need to know about the state of Australia’s property markets in 20 charts – April 2026

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, but new analysis shows it is still possible in a handful of apartment markets.

Cotality’s Monthly Housing Chart Pack for April  identifies a profound supply-demand imbalance has emerged as a key contributor to divergent home value trends across Australia since the start of 2020

Analysis  reveals that between Q1 2020 and Q3 2025, the strongest growth in home values was concentrated in states where the rate of dwelling completions has lagged significantly behind population growth.

Cotality Australia’s Head of Research, Gerard Burg, noted Western Australia and Queensland were the primary examples of this trend.

He further said:

“In WA and QLD, the share of dwelling completions fell well behind the share of population growth, with these states seeing home values more than double since 2020.

QLD accounted for over 25% of the total increase in Australia's population over this period, but less than 20% of the dwellings completed were located in QLD."

Mr Burg also highlighted that Queensland recorded the largest population increase in the country, with over 25% of national growth attributed to people migrating, likely in pursuit of a lifestyle shift to a warmer climate and relative affordability.

“QLD has long attracted retirees from other states, and, until recently, offered buyers some more affordable markets compared with other major cities.

Net migration to QLD has started to slow in the last few quarters, and First Home Buyers may increasingly look to opportunities elsewhere."

At the other end of the spectrum, Victoria accounted for the largest share of home completions in this period – around one-third (33%) of the total – outpacing its share of population growth.

Mr Burg notes that policy support at both the State and Federal levels assisted the growth in VIC dwellings over this period.

Almost 63% of this new supply in VIC were stand-alone houses, which we see Australians still have a revealed preference for. In NSW, for example, the split between houses and units was closer to 50-50.

Meanwhile, South Australia remains a notable outlier in the findings, recording strong growth in home values of over 90% over the five-year period, despite dwelling completions remaining in line with population growth.

“Overall, when we see a supply-demand imbalance such as those in Perth or Brisbane, we wind up with a large pool of buyers competing for a small pool of dwellings. This creates a seller’s market and can rapidly drive up home values, as we saw in these two capitals," he said.

• The total value of Australian residential real estate was $12.6 trillion at the end of March 2026.
• Outstanding mortgages against all residential housing are only $2.6 trillion - a very comfortable 20% Loan to Value ratio.
• 55.8% of total Aussie household wealth is held in residential property - one of the many reasons neither the banks, the government nor the RBA wants a property crash.

Australian dwelling values

• Australian home values were 2.1% higher through the March quarter, a slowdown from the 2.8% rise in Q4 last year.
• The annual growth trend accelerated to 9.9% in March, the fastest 12 -month pace of growth since June 2022.
• Across the capitals, the annual change in dwelling values ranged from 24.3% in Perth to 3.4% in Melbourne.
• Regional markets have been more resilient to a slowdown in value growth, likely supported by regional migration trends and more affordable housing values.
• However, as a property investor, you can always outperform the average.

Our capital city markets are fragmented

Our housing markets are fragmented, with each state performing differently depending on local economic and market factors.

The following chart shows how different price segments in each capital city market are performing.

Each State is running its own race

One star performer was Brisbane, where property values increased 19% over the last year and are currently at a record high.

• Perth property values are up 24.3% over the year and are currently at a new record high.

• Sydney property values increased 4.8% over the past year but are still -0.4% below their record high in November 2025.

• Melbourne property values decreased -0.2% for March, rose 3.4% over the year, but are still -1.3% below the record high seen in March 2022.

• In the previous darling of the housing markets, Hobart, house prices are -2.9 % below their record highs recorded in March 2022.

Here's how the Adelaide property market performed.

•  Dwelling values in Canberra increased 6.1% over the last year.

• The Darwin housing market has performed strongly, increasing 19.7% over the year and is currently at a new record high.

Here's how many properties are for sale at the moment

• Vendor activity has been lower than average for this time of the year.
• The flow of new listings moved through a seasonal high in early March but has tracked below the five-year average through the year-to-date.
• Over the four weeks to April 5 th, the number of new listings added to the market nationally was 3.3% lower than a year ago and 6.1% below the five - year average.
• The problem is that very few are A Grade homes or investment grade properties. Owners of quality properties are holding onto them.
• Cotality was tracking close to 122,500 house and unit listings over the four weeks to April 5th.
• With a softer than average flow of new listings to market, total advertised stock levels were tracking 11.5% lower than at the same time a year ago and 15.1% below the five - year average.

Transaction volumes

• The annual trend in home sales was been supported by rising demand side fundamentals in 2025.
• However, more recently, the quarterly trend is showing some weakness, with estimates for the first quarter of the year tracking 1.9% lower than a year ago and 5.6% below the five - year average.

Compared to a year ago, homes are selling faster.

• Homes are selling faster, with a median of 30 days on market in the March quarter, down from 33 days in Q1 2025.
• However, the median selling time has risen through early 2026, reflecting a combination of seasonality alongside a slowdown in housing demand.

Vendor Discounting

• Discounting rates have held close to record lows, implying strong selling conditions and modest levels of price
  discounting from vendors.
• The March quarter saw discounting rates loosen a little as listings rose and demand side factors eased.

Auction clearance rates

• Auction clearance rates moved through a cyclical peak in late September 2025 at 72%, trending lower since that time to be below the decade average of 64% by mid -November.
• Despite a temporary rebound through early 2026, auction clearance rates are once again falling, reaching 52.7% in late March, the lowest clearance rate since July 2022.
• We update the weekly auction clearance results here each week.

We're still experiencing a rental market crisis in Australia.

• Rental markets remain extremely tight, recording a vacancy rate of 1.6% in March, up from 1.5% in February but well below the decade average of 2.5%.
• Annual rental growth  has reaccelerated since July last year, rising from 3.4% growth over the 12 months to June 2025 to 5.7% in March.

• With rental growth reaccelerating while the pace of growth in home values ease, there has been some subtle upwards pressure on gross rental yields.
• Nationally, the gross rental yield rose to 3.57% in March, up from a recent cyclical low of 3.54% in January.
• Darwin continues to stand out with the highest gross yields, at 6.0%, while Sydney is recording the lowest gross yield at 3.1%.

Dwelling approvals and housing credit

• Dwelling approvals were 3.3% higher over the three months to February 2026, masking significant volatility across the unit sector.
• House approvals were 3.0% higher over the three - month period, tracking 1.7% above the decade average.
• On an annual basis, Australia has recorded 196,491 dwelling approvals, 8.6% higher than the 12 months prior but well below the 240,000 annual target implied by the Federal Housing Accord goal of 1.2 million homes completed in five years.

Finance and Lending

• The volume of home lending was 5.1% higher in the December quarter of 2025, easing from a 5.7% rise in Q3.
• Similarly,growth in the value of home lending eased from 10.9% in Q3 last year to 9.5%.
• Investors continue to drive lending indicators, with the volume of home lending for investment purposes up 5.5% over the quarter and 23.6% higher over the year, while owner occupier lending was 4.8% higher over the quarter and up 7.4% compared with a year ago.

• First home buyer lending was up sharply in Q4, increasing 6.8% by volume and 15.5% by value, coinciding with the
  expansion of the 5% deposit guarantee.
• First home as a share of the value of home lending rose to 29.6% over the quarter, slightly above the decade average of 27.4%.
• First home buyers held the largest share of owner occupier demand in the Northern Territory (also the most affordable housing market), comprising 38.1% of lending.
• First home buyers in NSW (27.0%) and Qld (27.3%) recorded the smallest share of owner occupier lending.

Source of charts: Cotality Monthly Housing Chart Pack, April 2026

• Also read:Sydney property market forecast for 2026 and 2027 | Why the short-term softness is a long-term opportunity
• Also read:This week’s Australian Property Market Update – Latest Data, State by State April 15th 2026
• Also read:Melbourne property market forecast for 2026 & 2027 | Why the opportunity is bigger than it looks
• Also read:Latest Property Price Forecasts Revealed. Australian Property Market Outlook 2026: Where To Now After The Rate Rise.
• Also read:Brisbane Property Market Forecast [2026] – What’s Ahead & Where to Invest