The @realty network sold $350,087,866 worth of property across Australia and New Zealand in September, delivering a strong result against a more challenging property market backdrop.
Across Australia, home prices fell for the sixth consecutive month in September as higher interest rates continued to reduce borrowing capacity and place pressure on buyer demand.
National home prices declined 0.2% during the month and are now 3.3% below their March 2026 peak, while annual growth has slowed to just 0.1%.
While Sydney and Melbourne remain the furthest below their previous peaks, the slowdown is becoming more widespread, with Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth all experiencing stronger downward momentum in recent months.
Spring market yet to gain momentum
The traditional spring selling season has so far failed to deliver its usual increase in activity.
Softer auction clearance rates, longer selling times and weaker sales volumes indicate buyers are becoming increasingly cautious, with a growing gap emerging between what buyers are prepared to pay and the prices sellers are hoping to achieve.
However, the market is far from uniform.
Regional markets continue to outperform the capitals, while units are proving more resilient than houses as affordability increasingly influences buyer decisions.
September at a glance
- National: Prices fell 0.2% in September and are 3.3% below their March peak.
- Capital cities: Combined prices fell 0.3% and are now 4.3% below peak and 1.6% lower year-on-year.
- Adelaide: Recorded the largest capital-city fall for September at 0.6%.
- Sydney: Prices declined 0.3% and are now 5.5% below their November 2025 peak.
- Melbourne: Prices fell 0.2% and are 5.7% below their October 2025 peak.
- Brisbane: Prices declined 0.2% and are now 3.9% below their March peak.
- Perth: Prices fell 0.3% and are 4.2% below peak.
- Darwin: The only capital to record growth, rising 0.1% to a new peak and sitting 12.0% higher year-on-year.
- Regional Australia: Prices were unchanged for the month and remain 5.1% higher than a year ago.
Sydney and Melbourne remain the deepest corrections
Australia’s two largest housing markets continue to experience the largest corrections.
Sydney home prices are now 5.5% below their peak and 5.0% lower than a year ago, while Melbourne prices are 5.7% below peak and 5.2% lower year-on-year.
Houses have experienced significantly greater pressure than units.
Sydney house prices are now 6.9% below peak, compared with a 2.9% decline for units. In Melbourne, houses are 6.6% below peak compared with 2.7% for units.
This difference highlights one of the key themes emerging in the current market: affordability is increasingly shaping buyer behaviour.
As borrowing capacity falls, buyers are adjusting their expectations around property type, location and size, helping support demand for more affordable units.
Momentum shifts in Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth
One of the most significant developments is the changing momentum across markets that had previously remained comparatively strong.
Adelaide recorded September’s largest capital-city decline, with prices falling 0.6%. Prices have now declined for four consecutive months and sit 2.5% below their May peak.
Brisbane and Perth have each recorded six consecutive monthly declines.
Brisbane is now 3.9% below its March peak, while Perth sits 4.2% below peak.
Despite the recent falls, both markets remain higher than a year ago, with Brisbane up 4.1% and Perth up 6.7%. Adelaide remains 5.6% higher year-on-year.
Regional markets continue to outperform
Regional Australia continues to show greater resilience than the capital cities.
Regional home prices were unchanged in September and remain just 0.7% below peak and 5.1% higher than a year ago.
There are also pockets of considerable strength.
Darling Downs–Maranoa recorded a 1.6% monthly increase and is now 13.5% higher than a year ago, while several other regional markets across Tasmania, New South Wales and Western Australia continue to record solid growth.
Relative affordability is likely playing an important role.
With higher interest rates reducing borrowing capacity, buyers are increasingly making trade-offs around location, property type and size. More affordable regional markets remain accessible to a broader pool of buyers than many capital-city locations.
Houses feeling more pressure than units
The affordability trend is also evident in the performance of houses compared with units.
National house prices fell 0.3% in September and are now 0.4% lower than a year ago.
Unit prices were broadly unchanged during the month and remain 1.8% higher year-on-year.
From their respective peaks, national house prices have fallen 3.6%, compared with a 2.2% decline for units.
For agents and sellers, this reinforces the importance of understanding exactly where demand remains strongest rather than treating the property market as a single national market.
What happens next?
Higher interest rates and reduced borrowing capacity remain the major influences on the housing market.
The latest interest rate increase takes cumulative tightening this year to 100 basis points, further reducing buyer budgets and increasing repayments for existing mortgage holders.
Because changes in interest rates take time to flow through household finances and purchasing decisions, their full impact is still working its way through the market.
This could continue to place downward pressure on prices and transaction activity, particularly across the capital cities.
At the same time, several factors continue to provide support.
Employment remains resilient, widespread forced selling remains limited and many homeowners retain substantial equity buffers. Australia also continues to face constraints on new housing supply relative to population growth.
The result is an increasingly diverse and highly localised property market, with conditions varying considerably by location, price point and property type.
For sellers, realistic pricing and a strong marketing strategy will become increasingly important. For buyers, greater choice and reduced competition in some markets may create new opportunities.
And for agents, changing conditions make local expertise, strong vendor communication and accurate market knowledge more important than ever.
Despite the changing market, @realty agents across Australia and New Zealand achieved more than $350 million in property sales during September — demonstrating that even in a softer market, transactions are still happening and opportunities remain for agents who can adapt to changing conditions.