Cotality's August 2026 Housing Chart Pack landed with a thud. Perth is finally in negative monthly territory, joining Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and every other mainland capital in a broad national softening. Only Darwin and Adelaide are still technically positive, and neither by a convincing margin.
If you're planning to buy, whether it's your first home, an upgrade or an investment property, you've probably heard some version of this and wondered what it means for you. The answer is more nuanced than the national headline suggests, and it is largely good news if you're pre-approved and in a position to move.
The National Headline Is Not Your Street
Sydney's headline monthly decline of 0.6% is real, but it is not evenly distributed. The suburbs driving that number are predominantly in the inner city, eastern suburbs and upper north shore, where price points sit well above $2 million and any percentage movement translates to very large dollar figures.
The same pattern plays out in most cities. Cotality's sub-regional data consistently shows that growth areas with genuine infrastructure investment tend to hold more firmly through national softening cycles than established high-value suburbs. The reason is straightforward: buyers in those areas are predominantly owner-occupiers purchasing their primary home, not investors leveraged to yield. Their motivation is more stable, and their presence in the market is less sensitive to short-term sentiment shifts. So the question to ask is not what the national index did, but what is happening at your price point and in your part of the market.
What Softening Actually Looks Like for Buyers
The shift that matters most to buyers is not the headline price number. It is how long homes are taking to sell and how much room vendors are leaving to negotiate.
Through 2024 and much of 2025, buyers in plenty of markets missed out simply because homes were moving too fast to organise finance, inspections and a considered offer. In a softer market, vendors are more willing to adjust price after the first few opens, and buyers have time to do proper due diligence, organise building inspections, and negotiate. This is not a market in distress. It is a market returning to a functional equilibrium where buyers have agency.
The Rate Question
Further RBA cuts are priced in by market economists before December 2026, according to the ASX RBA Rate Indicator. If they arrive as expected, they will do two things simultaneously: reduce your monthly repayment on a new loan, and increase the borrowing capacity calculations that lenders use at serviceability assessment.
On a $700,000 loan, a 0.5% reduction in rates reduces monthly repayments by approximately $220 per month. That is not a trivial number over the life of a loan. More significantly, each rate cut slightly increases the maximum loan amount a lender will approve at the current serviceability buffer, which can be the difference between affording a freestanding home versus a townhouse.
The practical implication: buyers who are 90 to 120 days away from being purchase-ready are moving into a window where both price conditions and borrowing conditions could be more favourable than they are today. Start your application now to get pre-approved so you're positioned when that window opens fully.
What This Means for Buyers Right Now
The consistent theme Michael is seeing with buyers across Australia: people who got knocked out of the 2024 to 2025 market because they could not move fast enough are coming back with more confidence and finding a fundamentally different experience.
Offers are being accepted. Vendors are negotiating. Banks are lending. The gap between what buyers can borrow and what properties are asking has narrowed meaningfully as prices plateaued and rates eased from their 2024 peaks.
If you've been sitting on the fence because the market felt chaotic, the August 2026 Cotality data is, paradoxically, a signal to start moving. Book a free 30-minute session to get a real borrowing capacity figure, not a calculator estimate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is now a good time to buy property?
For buyers who are pre-approved and have a genuine need, conditions in most markets are more favourable than they have been for some time. Vendors are negotiating, stock is sitting longer, and expected RBA rate cuts over the next six months will further improve borrowing capacity.
Will property prices fall further in 2026?
The softening is uneven. Owner-occupier heavy markets and areas with genuine population inflow and infrastructure investment have historically held up better than high-value suburbs during national softening cycles. Significant further falls would generally require a meaningful deterioration in employment or a reversal of population growth.
How much can I borrow right now?
Borrowing capacity depends on your income, existing debts, deposit size and the lender's current serviceability assessment rate. At current rates, a household earning $150,000 combined with minimal existing debt and a 10% deposit can typically access borrowing in the $700,000 to $850,000 range, though this varies significantly by lender and structure. The only accurate answer is a lender-assessed pre-approval.
Michael works with buyers and investors across Australia. For a clear, honest answer on what you can borrow in the current market, call Michael on +61 420 699 983 or book a free 30-minute session at tidycal.com/3qr45gm/30-minute-meeting.