Australian dwelling values fall for sixth straight month
Tue, 6th Oct 2026 (Today)
Australian dwelling values fell 1.1% in September, marking the sixth straight monthly decline in Cotality's Home Value Index.
The latest figures show national dwelling values are now 5.2% below their record high in March. Every capital city except Darwin recorded a monthly fall, and 71% of regional SA3 sub-markets also declined.
Brisbane posted the largest monthly fall among the capitals, with values down 1.5%, narrowly exceeding Sydney's 1.4% decline. Adelaide fell 1.3%, Perth dropped 1.2%, Canberra was down 1.1%, Melbourne slipped 0.7% and Hobart fell 0.5%, while Darwin rose 0.4%.
Sydney remains the weakest major market in the current downturn. Values in the city are now 8.6% below their February peak, slightly deeper than at the equivalent point in the 2022-23 correction, according to Cotality.
Melbourne has also continued to weaken, though the pace of decline has been less severe than in several smaller capitals. Home values there are 7.2% below their most recent cyclical peak in November last year and 7.5% below the record high reached in March 2022.
Across the capitals, the downturn has become widespread rather than concentrated in a handful of markets.
"97% of capital city suburbs were down in value over the three months to end of September, highlighting the broad-based scope of this negative housing cycle," said Tim Lawless, Research Director at Cotality.
On an annual basis, the picture was mixed. National dwelling values were flat over the year, but that headline result masked sharp differences between cities.
Darwin recorded the strongest annual rise at 11.9%, followed by Perth at 10.1%. Adelaide values were up 6.5%, Hobart rose 7.0% and Brisbane increased 5.9%, while Sydney fell 7.0%, Melbourne declined 6.2% and Canberra dropped 1.6%.
Regional markets continued to show greater resilience than the capitals. Combined regional dwelling values rose 5.6% annually, compared with a 1.8% annual decline across the combined capitals.
Sales slowdown
The cooling in prices has been accompanied by weaker turnover. Cotality estimated the number of home sales over the past three months was 19.1% lower than a year earlier and 13.3% below the previous five-year average.
Brisbane recorded the steepest annual fall in sales volumes at 27.2%. Sydney followed with a 26.5% drop, while Perth sales were down 24.2% from a year earlier.
"The sharp drop in sales has implications for the broader economy, with lower sales likely to hit some retail segments as well as stamp duty revenues for state governments," Lawless said.
More stock
Advertised supply has increased as homes have taken longer to sell. Across the combined capitals, new listings were 9.2% lower than a year earlier, but total inventory was 23.1% higher.
The divergence reflects slower transaction activity rather than a surge in new sellers. The median time on market for a capital city home has risen to 39 days from 23 days a year earlier.
"Despite fewer new listings entering the market, inventory levels have risen sharply because the rate of sale has fallen even faster. Capital city homes are now taking a median of 39 days to sell compared with 23 days a year ago, resulting in an accumulation of advertised supply," Lawless said.
The increase in available listings has improved choice for buyers, but demand remains constrained by borrowing costs and household budgets.
"The lift in available stock is improving choice for buyers, but ironically, many prospective buyers don't have the confidence or financial capacity to buy at the moment," Lawless said.
Median dwelling values still vary sharply between markets. Sydney remained the most expensive capital at $1,198,596, followed by Brisbane at $1,048,880 and Perth at $975,022. Darwin remained the least expensive capital city market in the index at $633,431, while the national median value stood at $899,236.