Cotality

Spring auction volumes are running 31 per cent below last year's pace, the quietest start since 2020, giving buyers more room to negotiate.

Cotality's national Home Value Index fell 0.9 per cent in August 2026, a fifth consecutive monthly decline and an acceleration from July's 0.7 per cent fall. July's drop had itself been the largest single-month fall since December 2022.

Australia's national Home Value Index fell 0.7 per cent in July, the largest monthly decline since December 2022, according to Cotality's August 2026 housing chart pack. The index covers a $12.4 trillion housing stock spread across 11.5 million dwellings.

Australia's Home Value Index fell 0.7 per cent in July, the largest monthly decline since December 2022, according to Cotality data published on 14 August. Brisbane values dropped 0.6 per cent over the month and Adelaide fell 0.2 per cent.

The weighted average final clearance rate across the combined capital cities hit 48.9 per cent for the week ending 16 August 2026, down 20.9 percentage points from 69.8 per cent recorded in the same week a year earlier.

Eleven weeks of sub-50 per cent auction clearances handed buyers the upper hand this winter. Values fell 0.7 per cent in July, and even last weekend's bounce left clearances 18 points below a year ago.

Sydney homeowners had a costly July. Cotality's national Home Value Index dropped 0.7% in July 2026, the largest single-month decline since December 2022, with Sydney leading the fall at 1.4% for the month.

Cotality's national Home Value Index fell 0.4% in June 2026, the largest single-month decline since December 2022. Combined capital-city values dropped 1.3% across the June quarter, with the worst falls concentrated in the two largest markets.