Market Trends

Read the signals together

Selling conditions

Cotality reported combined-capital inventory 23.1% higher than a year earlier in its 1 October 2026 update. Capital-city median selling time was 39 days, compared with 23 days a year earlier. National estimated sales over the previous three months were 19.1% lower than a year earlier. Source: Cotality.

AREM interpretation: When comparing homes, investigate how long competing properties have been advertised and whether their asking prices have changed. A market-wide stock measure does not establish how much a particular vendor will negotiate.

Borrowing and affordability

Check the dated RBA decision linked from Australian Market and compare it with an actual lender quote. Borrowing capacity depends on income, expenses, liabilities, deposit and lender assessment. Changes in the policy rate do not pass through identically to every mortgage.

The construction pipeline

Read approvals alongside starts, homes under construction and completions. Each represents a separate stage. A short-term change in approvals cannot establish when new housing will become available in your chosen suburb.

A practical monitoring checklist

• Compare monthly and annual value movement for the same market and dwelling type.
• Review comparable completed sales, current competing stock and selling times.
• Check finance costs against your own lender assessment.
• Research rental evidence and ownership costs separately from sale prices.
• Track local construction stages and verify announced developments.

Understanding the measures

A hedonic index adjusts for property characteristics when tracking value movement. A median summarises a price distribution and can differ from an index. State, metropolitan and suburb boundaries are not interchangeable. A change from a market peak is different from an annual change. Seasonal adjustments and data revisions can change earlier figures. Cotality index methodology.