Australia’s property markets have entered a more challenging phase, and the latest figures confirm that the momentum of the past few years has shifted. Combined capital city dwelling values have fallen 1% over the past month, although they remain 3% higher than a year ago. However, those national figures hide a widening divide between our…
Higher interest rates and uncertainty over the Federal Government’s proposed property tax changes are clearly taking some heat out of Australia’s property market, with new mortgage lending falling sharply in the June quarter. According to the latest ABS lending indicator data and reported by Canstar, the total value of new housing loans settled in the…
![Melbourne housing market update [video] | August 2026](https://cdn.propertyupdate.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/melbourne-1-270x200.jpg)
Melbourne has now recorded eight consecutive months of falling home values, and the July figure — a 1.2% decline — brings the total loss since the November 2025 cyclical peak to 5.1%. In dollar terms, that represents approximately $46,000 removed from the median dwelling value in eight months. But the more revealing number is a…
There is no doubt that our housing markets are facing challenges from all directions, but clearly they have remained more resilient than the property pessimists had predicted. To better understand what’s happening, this monthly collection of charts from Cotality paints an interesting picture. According to Cotality, double-digit declines in home values would make little dent in…
The Australian housing downturn has stopped being a two-city story. Cotality’s Home Value Index recorded a 0.7% national decline in July 2026 — the largest monthly fall since December 2022 — and for the first time in this cycle, the weakness has reached almost every corner of the country. Brisbane fell 0.6%. Adelaide slipped 0.2%….
Capital city auction markets have produced mixed results over the past week but listings remain generally subdued. Weekly Auction Results to Saturday, August 15th 2026 Capital City This Week Last Week Same Week Last Year Auctions Rate Auctions Rate Auctions Rate Sydney 561 58.5% 520 54.4% 837 80.1% Melbourne 570 59.2% 627 64.2% 873 74.8%…
Are you wondering where property prices are headed and how long we will remain in the doldrums? Every property cycle eventually poses the same question to investors: is this a genuine crash, a soft landing, or something in between? Right now, with national prices falling and confidence at near record lows, those questions are louder…
SQM Research today released its latest data on residential property vacancy rates. Australia’s national residential vacancy rate remained steady at 1.3% in July 2026, unchanged from June. The total number of residential vacancies increased to 40,771 dwellings, up from 39,229 in June, indicating a modest increase in available rental stock despite the unchanged headline vacancy…
If a picture paints a thousand words, then this collection of charts should do a pretty good job of painting the landscape as it affects our economy and our property markets. Each month the RBA summarises macroeconomic and financial market trends in Australia by providing a detailed chart pack. World Economy Australia’s economy doesn’t operate in…
If you only looked at today’s monthly housing costs, it would be easy to conclude that buying a home in Australia no longer makes financial sense. After all, new research from Compare the Market shows that in every Australian capital city except Darwin, renting is cheaper than buying, and in some cities the difference is…
