National home prices fell for a fourth consecutive month in July, according to PropTrack, while a separate measure from Cotality recorded the sharpest single-month decline in more than three years, as the downturn spread from Sydney and Melbourne into Brisbane and Adelaide.
PropTrack’s Home Price Index put the national monthly fall at 0.3%, leaving prices 1.8% below their peak.
Despite the slide, the national median home value sits at $894,000, up 3.9% on a year ago.
Every capital city recorded a fall in July except Darwin, PropTrack found, with Sydney down 0.6% – the largest drop of any capital – followed by Adelaide, Hobart and Canberra, each down 0.5%.
One downturn, two measures
Change in home values by capital city, July 2026 – PropTrack vs Cotality
Monthly change: how much dwelling values moved during July 2026.
All figures are in the table below.
Full data table (incl. median values)
| City | PT monthly | PT annual | PT median | Cot. monthly | Cot. annual | Cot. median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | −0.6% | −1.6% | $1,205,000 | −1.4% | −2.0% | $1,244,617 |
| Melbourne | −0.4% | −2.7% | $829,000 | −1.2% | −2.8% | $797,354 |
| Canberra | −0.5% | −0.9% | $854,000 | −1.0% | +1.0% | $883,138 |
| Brisbane | −0.3% | +11.1% | $1,060,000 | −0.6% | +14.8% | $1,104,094 |
| Adelaide | −0.5% | +10.0% | $935,000 | −0.2% | +10.5% | $944,909 |
| Hobart | −0.5% | +7.8% | $727,000 | +0.1% | +9.3% | $756,951 |
| Perth | −0.2% | +14.9% | $999,000 | +0.1% | +20.5% | $1,029,797 |
| Darwin | +0.1% | +14.9% | $636,000 | +0.8% | +16.3% | $642,175 |
| National | −0.3% | +3.9% | $894,000 | −0.7% | +5.3% | $928,421 |
Sources: PropTrack Home Price Index & Cotality Home Value Index, July 2026. The two indices use different methodologies, so figures differ. PT = PropTrack, Cot. = Cotality.
Cotality's Home Value Index told a similar story but with sharper falls. Its national index dropped 0.7% in July, the largest monthly decline since December 2022. Sydney (-1.4%) and Melbourne (-1.2%) led the falls, while Brisbane (-0.6%) and Adelaide (-0.2%) each recorded their second consecutive monthly decline, drawing two previously resilient mid-sized capitals into the downturn.
Perth managed a modest 0.1% rise, according to Cotality, after a revised 0.5% contraction in June. Upper-quartile properties fell 3.2% nationally over the three months to July, compared with a 0.3% gain for the lower price tier.
Anne Flaherty, REA Group Senior Economist and author of the PropTrack report, said the combination of rates and cost-of-living pressures was weighing on the market.
"High interest rates are weighing on prices, with the impact of reduced borrowing capacities being exacerbated by ongoing cost of living pressures," Anne said.
"Budget tax changes are also likely impacting overall buyer confidence, while ongoing price falls could be driving some buyers to delay purchasing until prices stabilise."
"Further price falls are likely to be seen over the coming months," she added.
"While inflation moderated in June, it remains elevated, and there is still a risk that interest rates could move higher before the end of the year."
Both indices point to a widening gap between what buyers and sellers expect.
Cotality's data shows auction clearance rates have sat below 50% since late May, up from the low 40s in mid-to-late June.
Gerard Burg, Cotality's Head of Research, said vendors were only now starting to adjust.
"This adjustment is most evident in our weekly listings data," Gerard said.
"We have observed a deterioration in the flow of new listings across the country in recent weeks, led by Sydney, as potential vendors assess a weak market and choose to wait until conditions improve.
However, this trend has lagged the decline in demand, as evidenced by total listings numbers that have continued to track higher."
"There remains a mismatch between the pricing expectations of buyers and sellers," he said.
Regional markets softened too. PropTrack has the national regional index flat over the month, still 8% higher annually, while Cotality recorded a 0.2% regional fall – its first decline since January 2023, led by regional NSW at -0.4%.
Darwin remains the exception. Nerida Conisbee, Ray White's Chief Economist, said the city was recording house price growth of around 16% and unit growth of around 13% over the past year, making it the only major market to see positive price growth since the Federal Budget.
"Darwin is doing something no other capital city is managing right now," Nerida said.
"It's the only city recording price growth across all three measures, houses, units and the broader market, at a time when the rest of the country is much more cautious."
She attributed this to Darwin's small market size, roughly $38 billion compared with Sydney's estimated $3 trillion, and to major projects including the $6 billion Barossa LNG development and around $8.2 billion in planned defence infrastructure over the next decade.
"Darwin won't keep growing at 16 per cent forever, but the fundamentals, a resources and defence-driven economy, a young workforce, and a market too small to be dictated by national interest rate settings, mean it's likely to keep outperforming the rest of the country for some time yet," Nerida said.