Australian property data provider Cotality’s October 2026 Monthly Housing Chart Pack estimates that about 39,747 homes were sold nationally in September 2026, roughly 20.9% fewer than the same month a year earlier. It is the ninth consecutive month in which annual sales volumes have come in below the prior year, and sales over the past three months were an estimated 19.1% lower year-on-year nationally, running 13.3% below the previous five-year average for the period.
Prices are moving the same direction: national home values fell 1.1% in September 2026, the sixth straight monthly decline, leaving values about 5.2% below the market’s March 2026 peak. Mortgage-demand data from Equifax points to the same slowdown from the borrowing side — demand fell 19.2% year-on-year in September 2026, its weakest reading since October 2022, with demand from first-home buyers down more than 22% over the same period.
For buyers and sellers, the combination of fewer transactions, falling prices and softer mortgage demand marks a clear shift from the tighter market conditions of early 2026. Commentary accompanying the data ties the slowdown to this year’s run of interest-rate rises — four increases have already landed in 2026 — with borrowers and lenders both pricing in the chance of further tightening.
