Smaller capitals buck the trend as new listings rise
Home prices in Australia fell for a fifth straight month in August, dropping 0.2% and leaving the national market 2.7% below its March peak, realestate.com.au's latest Market Snapshot shows.
The trend is corroborated by separate data from Cotality, which recorded a 3.1% quarterly decline in national dwelling values over the same period.
Listings diverge sharply by city
The report, authored by the site's senior economist Angus Moore (pictured), found conditions varied widely depending on location.
New listings nationally were down 2% year-on-year in August, though that figure masks a sharp split: Sydney and Melbourne new listings fell 18% and 17% respectively, while listings in smaller capitals such as Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth rose by roughly 20%. Total buy listings nationally were up 8% year-on-year, giving buyers somewhat more choice even as sales take longer to complete.
Price falls uneven across the capitals
Within the national price figure, the falls were far from even. Sydney and Brisbane each slipped 0.3% for the month, a milder decline than Canberra's 0.4% fall or Adelaide's 0.9% drop – the steepest of any capital. Darwin was the only capital to record a rise, up 0.1%, and remains the strongest-performing capital over the past year by a wide margin.
The report points to the cumulative effect of three interest rate rises and changes to federal investor tax settings as the key drivers behind the slowdown, with pricier segments of the market pulling back further than more affordable ones. Specifically, from 1 July 2027 negative gearing on established properties will be limited to new builds for purchases made after budget night on 12 May, with existing holdings grandfathered under the now-legislated reforms.
Against that backdrop, regional areas have fared better, with prices flat in August and down just 0.5% from peak, compared with a 3.6% drop across the combined capitals.
Clearance rates soft, sales taking longer
Auction clearance rates remain low after falling sharply earlier in the year, sitting in the low-to-mid 50s in Melbourne and low-to-mid 40s in Sydney through most of August. The typical time to sell a home has stretched to 43 days nationally, eight days longer than a year ago, with the median days on market up almost two weeks since its April low.
Soft clearance rates and lengthening sale times point to an ongoing gap between what buyers and sellers expect to pay, a mismatch the report suggests could put further downward pressure on prices in the months ahead.
For brokers, the diverging conditions between Sydney/Melbourne and the smaller capitals underline the need for market-specific advice when discussing refinancing timing, borrowing capacity, or purchase strategy with clients, rather than treating "the market" as a single national trend.
