Market report · October 2026
Australia’s housing market has slowed. What it means for the Eastern Suburbs.
The national market has turned. Values fell over the September quarter, homes are taking longer to sell, and buyers have more to choose from. The headline number hides most of the story.
Conditions differ sharply between cities, and Sydney has been weaker than the national average. For Eastern Suburbs buyers and sellers, that puts a premium on three things: accurate pricing, careful property selection, and a clear view of the competing stock.
The national picture
A flat year, a weak quarter
Cotality’s October 2026 Monthly Housing Chart Pack shows Australian dwelling values unchanged over the 12 months to September. The same report shows values down 3.7% in the September quarter.
Zero annual growth sounds like stability. The quarterly figure tells you the softening is recent — and gathering pace.
Change in dwelling values — September quarter
Annual change to September shown at right. Source: Cotality.
Brisbane and Perth show why the reporting period matters. Both still carry strong annual growth. Both fell hard in the latest quarter. Regional markets have held up better, but they are softening too.
Supply
More stock on the market — and fewer new sellers
Here is the number that matters most in this report.
Across Australia, new listings over the four weeks to 11 October were 7.9% lower than a year earlier. Total listings were 19.1% higher.
Listings vs a year earlier — four weeks to 11 October
Fewer homes are being listed. More homes are sitting unsold. Source: Cotality.
Stock is building not because sellers are rushing in, but because properties are sitting.
26 → 41
National median days on market, year on year
−6.4%
Estimated national sales volumes, year to September
+19.1%
Total advertised stock vs a year earlier
The implication for sellers is plain. Your property is not just competing with this week’s new listings. It is competing with everything that has failed to sell before it.
Sydney
A deeper adjustment
Sydney values fell 1.4% in September. That takes the quarterly decline to 4.9% and the annual decline to 7.0%.
−8.6%
Sydney values below their February 2026 peak
46 days
Median selling period, up from 29 a year earlier
4.8%
Median vendor discount, up from 3.4%
*Listings cover the four weeks to 11 October 2026. Selling periods and vendor discounts cover the three months to September. Source: Cotality.
Vendor discounting measures the gap between the first advertised price and the final sale price. It is not a discount every buyer can expect. It is a measure of how far initial expectations are running ahead of the market.
Sales take longer. Negotiations run harder. That is the market as it stands.
Price segments
The top of the market is leading the move
Sydney’s highest-priced quarter of dwellings fell 5.6% over the September quarter — more than the middle segment at 4.7% and the lowest-priced quarter at 2.5%.
Sydney dwelling values by price segment — September quarter
Sydney-wide segments, not an Eastern Suburbs result. Source: Cotality.
That matters here. Much of the Eastern Suburbs sits in Sydney’s upper price ranges.
But these are Sydney-wide segments, not an Eastern Suburbs result. A beachfront apartment, a family home near the schools, a tired unit needing work and a new luxury residence are four different markets. I have watched them move apart in every downturn since the mid-1980s, and they are moving apart now.
For sellers
Price to today’s alternatives, not to the peak
Buyers can see your competition in one evening of searching — the new listings, the recent sales, and the stock that has sat unsold. A price anchored to February will not generate meaningful interest, and time on market has its own cost in a falling market.
01
Presentation carries more weight
When buyers have choice, everything is compared: repairs, light, layout, parking, outdoor space, and the condition of the building.
02
Put the strata position on the table
For apartments: levies, planned capital works, special levies — early. Buyers in this market reward transparency and walk away from surprises.
03
Method follows the buyer pool
Auction or private treaty is a question of the property’s likely buyers and its competition. Neither method rescues an unrealistic price.
For buyers & downsizers
Room to move — used with discipline
A slower market gives you room: more time to compare, more room to negotiate. A reduced asking price is not the same as good value. Check the comparable sales, the condition, the cost of works, and the ongoing ownership costs before you decide what something is worth.
For downsizers, the figure that matters is the changeover — the difference between what you sell for and the total cost of what you buy. A softer selling price is often offset by a better buying opportunity, though different property types rarely move in step. Getting the two transactions coordinated matters more than picking the bottom of the market. Nobody picks the bottom.
Rents are still rising, but check the real return
Sydney rents grew 4.4% over the year. The gross rental yield sits near 3.4% — the lowest of any capital city. Gross yield is before costs. Strata levies, maintenance, management, insurance, vacancy and borrowing can turn a modest gross yield into a thin net one. For an Eastern Suburbs apartment, the building’s financial position deserves as much scrutiny as the advertised rent.
The long-term picture hasn’t changed
Behind the current slowdown sits the larger issue: population. The projections cited in the report point to roughly 3.6 million additional residents nationally over the decade to 2034–35, including almost 750,000 in Sydney. That is a lasting source of housing demand. It is not a guarantee of near-term price growth. Short-term weakness and a long-term shortage can — and currently do — exist at the same time.
The Weiss Real Estate view
Buyers have won back negotiating room. Sellers now need evidence, not optimism.
The broad figures set the context. The decision still comes down to the individual property — its position, its condition, its building, its competition and its comparable sales.
I have been selling Eastern Suburbs property since the mid-1980s, through every cycle in between. If you are weighing a move in this market, I can tell you what the data means for your property, not just for Sydney.
Alan Weiss
Weiss Real Estate · Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs · 0412 176 074
Source: Cotality, October 2026 Monthly Housing Chart Pack, particularly pages 2, 5–8, 11, 20–25 and 28–29. Most figures relate to September 2026; listings data runs to 11 October. Recent sales volumes are modelled estimates subject to revision. Eastern Suburbs observations are Weiss Real Estate’s interpretation of the broader data; the report does not provide an Eastern Suburbs-specific breakdown.
