Values down 6% from April peak, yet quality homes still draw offers
Perth home values fell 1.2% in September 2026 and are now 6% below their April peak, according to Cotality’s latest Home Value Index. However, a local buyer’s agent warns that waiting for further falls could cost buyers the right home.
Peter Gavalas (pictured left), buyer’s agent at Perth-based Resolve Property Solutions, said he was seeing two groups of buyers hold back. Some were waiting to buy at the bottom, while others had relaxed because they assumed competition had eased. In his view, “both can end with you missing the right property”.
The Perth decline comes amid a broader slowdown that has seen national home prices fall for six straight months.
Why the market has softened
Higher mortgage rates and the federal budget’s tax changes have thinned the buyer pool. In a late-September column published on the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) website, then-president Suzanne Brown (pictured right) pointed to a sharp drop in property investor activity after the budget’s tax changes, alongside fewer first-home buyers.
Brown said rate rises had reduced borrowing capacity and left buyers wary of overextending. The Reserve Bank (RBA) has since lifted the cash rate a fourth time this year, to 4.6% on 29 September, according to minutes of the RBA’s September meeting.
Buyers now have more choice. New listings are back at long-term average levels, and Brown said about one in two houses sells slightly below the asking price, compared with one in 10 earlier this year.
Cotality estimated that Perth sales volumes in September were 24.2% lower than a year earlier. REIWA reported that houses took a median of 28 days to sell, 18 days longer than a year ago. Even so, Brown said “conditions currently are more balanced than a buyer’s market”.
Competition persists for quality homes
Gavalas said city-wide figures can hide strong demand for individual properties. Family homes in sought-after suburbs with good school zones and transport links were still attracting several offers each. Brown made a similar point, saying the family home and upgrader segments remained active.
Fundamentals and timing
Gavalas said Perth’s population growth and shortage of new housing in Western Australia had not gone away. These are the same forces that drove a 74% rise in dwelling values over five years, the largest of any capital city according to Cotality.
He cautioned that trying to time the bottom of the market is risky, because “the property you wanted may already be gone”. The room to negotiate depends on the property: a home that has sat unsold for weeks may leave space to bargain, while a fresh listing drawing serious interest may require a quick decision.
