ResidentialTaryn ParisThu 01 Oct 26
Home Prices Slide for Sixth Straight Month
Australian home prices have now fallen for six consecutive months, and the spring selling season has failed to deliver its usual uplift.
The realestate.com.au Home Price Report shows national prices are down 0.2 per cent in September.
Values are now 3.3 per cent below their March peak, while annual growth has slowed to just 0.1 per cent.
Senior economist Eleanor Creagh said “higher interest rates are weighing on borrowing capacity and buyer demand”.
Sydney and Melbourne remain the deepest corrections, sitting at 5.5 per cent and 5.7 per cent below their respective peaks, but Creagh said momentum was shifting.
“Downward momentum has strengthened in Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth,” she said, in markets where conditions had previously been more resilient.
Adelaide recorded the largest monthly fall among the capitals at 0.6 per cent. Sydney and Perth each slipped 0.3 per cent, Brisbane and Melbourne 0.2 per cent, and Canberra 0.1 per cent. Hobart was flat, while Darwin edged up 0.1 per cent.
Home Price Index - September 2026
| All dwellings | Monthly growth | Annual growth | Change from peak | 5-year growth | 10-year growth | Median value |
| Sydney | -0.3% | -5% | -5.5% | 8% | 45.7% | $1,187,000 |
| Melbourne | -0.2% | -5.2% | -5.7% | -1.8% | 31.2% | $819,000 |
| Brisbane | -0.2% | 4.1% | -3.9% | 63.1% | 124.4% | $1,033,000 |
| Adelaide | -0.6% | 5.6% | -2.5% | 66.5% | 124% | $915,000 |
| Perth | -0.3% | 6.7% | -4.2% | 80.8% | 109.8% | $968,000 |
| Hobart | 0% | 5.3% | -1% | 9.3% | 106% | $729,000 |
| Darwin | 0.1% | 12% | 0% | 32.4% | 36.7% | $638,000 |
| Canberra | -0.1% | -3.3% | -4.1% | 2.9% | 56.1% | $854,000 |
| Capital cities | -0.3% | -1.6% | -4.3% | 19.7% | 60% | $973,000 |
*Source: realestate.com.au Home Price Report
Over the past three months, Adelaide prices have fallen at an annualised rate of 8.6 per cent, followed by Brisbane at 7.9 per cent and Perth at 7.4 per cent. Sydney’s equivalent rate is 6.9 per cent and Melbourne’s 4.8 per cent, but they are further down the correction cycle, according to Creagh.
Brisbane’s median dwelling value is now $1,033,000, down 3.9 per cent from its peak, though annual growth remains positive at 4.1 per cent.
Creagh said the traditional spring bounce has not materialised yet.
“The spring selling season has not delivered the usual lift in momentum,” she said, pointing to soft auction clearance rates, longer selling times and sales volumes below last year’s levels.
Together, she said, those indicators pointed to weaker buyer demand and a widening gap between buyer and seller price expectations.
But there are a few bright spots in the fresh data.
Regional markets were unchanged in the month and remain 5.1 per cent higher year-on-year, proving to be more resilient than their capital city counterparts.
Creagh said “conditions remain uneven”, with regional markets outperforming and units proving more robust than houses as affordability shapes buyer demand.
National house prices fell 0.3 per cent in September and are 0.4 per cent lower than a year ago. Unit prices were unchanged and are up 1.8 per cent year on year.
But Creagh said further declines were expected in the coming months, off the back of this week’s interest rate rise, tax changes and the cumulative impact of higher borrowing costs.
She said resilient employment, limited forced selling and homeowner equity buffers should contain the adjustment.
Reduced buyer purchasing power, rather than large numbers of owners being forced to sell, remains the dominant pressure on prices.
