Media Release | Cotality's Home Value Index Statement July 2026

Cotality's Home Value Index comment

The following statement can be attributed to Oliver Hume Property Group Chief Economist, Matt Bell.

The impact of three rate hikes and some hits to investors via the Federal Budget have finally hit housing markets nationally, not just Sydney and Melbourne. Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide all saw their monthly price growth fall back to earth in June, following what we’ve seen for Sydney and Melbourne for the last 6 months.

While the negative gearing and capital gains tax changes continue to dominate the headlines, it’s still the Feb, March and May rate hikes that are the main causes of a softer market. So we can be pretty sure we’re in for a rough September quarter when it comes to established house price growth as well.

But the one thing that has changed in the last few weeks is the outlook for rates. We’ve moved from wondering if there are two more hikes coming to markets forecasting a long period of no change and the next move being down.

If that occurs, we can expect established markets to stabilise by the December quarter, and land markets to return to higher levels of activity.