Key takeaways
Record profits, driven by past growth: 96% of resales delivered a profit in Q1—the highest since 2005—with a record median gain of $377k, reflecting value built over years rather than current market momentum.
Timing matters: Recent buyers are most exposed to losses, while long-term owners (holding ~9 years) are far more likely to realise gains, reinforcing the value of a buy-and-hold approach.
Growth is uneven and cooling: Strong gains are concentrated in mid-tier capitals and lifestyle markets, but conditions are diverging—units underperform houses, and slowing or declining values signal profitability is unlikely to accelerate further.
Cotality's latest Pain & Gain report analysed almost 101,000 resales in Q1, finding 96.0% of residential property resales delivered a nominal profit over the quarter, up slightly from 95.9% in December and the strongest result since 2005.
The median gain increased to a record $377,000, while the median loss remained unchanged at $45,000.
Despite signs of slowing momentum across parts of the housing market, sellers are still benefiting from growth built over many years.
The strong resale results we're seeing today largely reflect the substantial value growth accumulated over recent years rather than current market conditions.
Housing values continued to rise through most of 2025, and many sellers have benefited from holding their property through multiple growth cycles, which has allowed them to build significant equity over time.
Recent buyers remain most exposed
While resale profitability hit a record high, those who sold for a loss were more likely to be recent purchasers.
Loss-making house resales had a median hold period of 4.3 years in the March quarter, placing many of those purchases around the market peak in late 2021 and early 2022. By comparison, properties sold at a profit had typically been held for 9.1 years.
The results highlight how the difference in market conditions can change the financial outcome significantly, for those with shorter ownership periods.
Most people selling for a profit today are benefiting from years of accumulated value growth, but those who purchased closer to the recent peak have had less time to build equity and are more exposed to market fluctuations.
The figures illustrate the value of a buy-and-hold approach to property ownership.
Time remains one of the most effective ways to absorb market cycles and improve the likelihood of a positive resale outcome.
Half-million-dollar gains in Brisbane and Adelaide
Brisbane recorded the highest share of profitable resales of any capital city at 99.8%, with a median gain of $525,190 following a prolonged period of interstate migration, housing shortages and above-average value growth.
Adelaide was a close second, with 99.3% of resales delivering a profit and a median gain of $477,000.
Perth also recorded strong results, with 98.9% of resales generating a gain and a median profit of $475,000.
The mid-tier capitals attracted strong buyer interest during the past five years because they offered a more affordable alternative to markets such as Sydney and Melbourne, which has helped drive the rapid value growth now flowing through to resale profits.
Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide have all benefited from strong population growth, tight housing supply and sustained buyer demand.
Many owners who bought before the recent upswing, during a period of affordability and low interest rates, are now selling into a market where values have risen substantially, translating into some very significant resale gains.
Houses deliver bigger rewards than apartments
The gap between houses and units remains substantial, both in terms of profit and size of gain.
- Also read:National Weekly Auction Report – June 27th 2026 | Winter Freeze Sets in for Home Auction Markets
- Also read:Brisbane’s Auction Market Just Crashed – What the RBA’s Rate Pause Really Means for Property Investors | Property Insiders
- Also read:Latest Property Price Forecasts. Australian Property Market Outlook 2026: Where To Now After The Rate Rise & Budget Changes.
- Also read:This week’s Australian Property Market Update – Latest Data, State by State June 23rd 2026
- Also read:Everything you need to know about the state of Australia’s property markets in 20 charts – June 2026
Nationally, 98.1% of house resales recorded a profit in the March quarter compared with 91.9% of units.
The median gain for houses was $440,000, compared to the $256,000 recorded for units.
Melbourne's unit market remained one of the weakest in the country, with only 81.0% of resales generating a profit.
Increased apartment supply in some locations has created more choice for buyers but has also weighed on resale performance.
In a number of established apartment markets, particularly in Melbourne and parts of Sydney, additional supply has limited capital growth and increased the incidence of loss-making resales.
That has created a much wider performance gap between houses and units than we've typically seen in previous cycles.
Lifestyle markets top the nation
Coastal lifestyle markets continued to dominate the list of Australia's strongest-performing regions.
Noosa, on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, recorded the nation's highest median resale gain at $729,750, as the popular coastal region benefited from strong long-term demand and limited housing supply.
Five Western Australian local government areas also ranked among the nation's top 10 regions for resale profits, including Melville, Joondalup, Nedlands, East Fremantle and Chittering.
Many of the strongest-performing markets had experienced sustained demand over several years.
The regions recording the largest resale gains today are generally the same markets that experienced some of the strongest housing value growth through the pandemic and post-pandemic period.
Places such as Noosa, a number of Western Australian markets and the Byron Shire in Northern NSW have seen demand consistently outpace supply, and those conditions have translated into substantial wealth gains for homeowners.
Record profits unlikely to accelerate further
Although resale profitability remains exceptionally strong, the strong pace of growth recorded over recent years post-pandemic is unlikely to be repeated across all markets.
Cotality’s national hedonic home value index showed no growth in May, and conditions have become more varied, with declines underway in Sydney and Melbourne while other markets continue to record growth.
The resale results for the March quarter are a reflection of the strong housing conditions experienced across most capital cities over the past five years rather than a forecast of where the market is heading next.
Declining values will erode profitability in the coming months, but future performance will increasingly depend on local market conditions, property type and when a property was purchased.
