PropTrack Home Price Index Tracker

The Latest Numbers (September 2026)

National: −0.2% for the month · +0.1% annually · −3.3% from the March 2026 peak. The combined capitals fell 0.3% and are now 4.3% below peak and 1.6% lower than a year ago, while regional prices were unchanged, 0.7% below peak and still 5.1% higher annually. Momentum has shifted to the markets that rose longest: PropTrack says the past three months' falls equate to annualised declines of around 8.6% in Adelaide, 7.9% in Brisbane and 7.4% in Perth, against 6.9% in Sydney and 4.8% in Melbourne. Eleanor Creagh cautions that these are not forecasts, only a measure of the recent shift.

Source: PropTrack Home Price Index, September 2026 (REA Group, released 1 October 2026), as syndicated by propertyupdate.com.au. Hobart, Canberra and median prices were not available in the syndicated release and are omitted this month. †Adelaide's annual change was not reported.

Segment note: units keep outperforming houses on both indices. In September PropTrack has national house prices –0.3% (–0.4% annually, 3.6% below peak) against units broadly unchanged (+1.8% annually, 2.2% below peak); the gap is widest in Sydney (houses 6.9% below peak, units 2.9%) and Melbourne (6.6% vs 2.7%). Cotality has houses –1.2% against units –0.8% for the month. Our units-vs-houses analysis covers why the unit segment is holding up.

The Trend

Two features distinguish this downturn so far:

• The capital–regional gap is the defining split. The combined capitals are 4.3% below peak and 1.6% lower over the year; regional markets are 0.7% below peak and 5.1% higher. Every capital except Darwin fell in September while regional prices held flat, so the correction is mainly a capital-city one.
• Little sign of forced selling so far. The RBA's October Financial Stability Review found under 1% of borrowers in negative equity, and Cotality's sales estimate is 19.1% below a year ago while capital-city stock is 23.1% above it because homes take longer to sell. That points to weak demand rather than distress, though the 29 September rise to 4.60% adds pressure on borrowers from October.

Cross-Check: PropTrack vs Cotality

The two providers agree on direction, with every capital falling except Darwin, and the magnitude gap widened again: PropTrack printed –0.2% for September against Cotality's –1.1%, and on the fall from the March peak PropTrack has –3.3% against Cotality's –5.2%. Over twelve months they are almost identical (+0.1% and 0.0%). Cotality's revisions have again run toward the weaker read: its August national print was revised from –0.9% to –1.2%. Our working rule, from the methodology comparison below: use either index for direction, neither for precision, and both for confidence. See the Home Value Index Tracker for the Cotality side.

What This Means for Investors — Our Analysis

1. Position by geography and segment, not the headline. The –0.2% national print blends capitals 4.3% below peak with regional markets 0.7% off theirs, and falling houses with steadier units. The index that matters is the one for the market you're buying.
2. Gross yields rise while this continues. Prices edging lower against rents still growing about 5.5% a year lifts gross yields; Cotality's national gross yield reached 3.85% in September, the highest since August 2019. Gross yield is not cash flow, so test interest and holding costs at the post-hike rate. Model it with our capital growth calculator.
3. Momentum can turn fast in the boom markets. Adelaide has posted the largest capital-city fall for two months running, and PropTrack's three-month annualised pace is now steeper in Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth than in Sydney or Melbourne. Five-year growth figures describe the past; the monthly direction is what an offer today should price.
4. Rates are the main variable. On 29 September the RBA lifted the cash rate to 4.60%, its fourth rise of 2026; Creagh calls higher rates “the dominant headwind for housing demand.” Westpac and ANZ expect another rise on 3 November, while CBA, NAB and AMP expect a hold. Our 2026–2027 house price forecast scorecard sets out what each forecaster expects from here, on both indices.

Monthly Editions — Full Analysis Archive

Each month we publish a full investor deep-dive on the release. The tracker above always carries the latest figures.

Related one-off: PropTrack × Westpac investor report, March 2026 — the sub-$700K investor segment.

Methodology

The Bottom Line