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Aspiring home-owners, we’ve got good(ish) news. After years of relentless price growth, Sydney's white-hot property market is finally showing signs of cooling. According to Domain's latest House Price Report, Australia's housing boom has officially come to an end – and Sydney is leading the downturn.
According to the report, the June quarter saw Sydney house prices fall by 3.3 per cent – the city's biggest quarterly decline since 2022. That's a drop of almost $60,000 in just three months, bringing the median house price to (a still eye-watering) $1.73 million. Sydney units also slipped 1.5 per cent, marking their first quarterly price fall in two years. It's the first time since late 2022 that Sydney's house prices have gone backwards, signalling a significant shift after more than three years of near-constant growth.
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But Sydney isn't alone. Domain's report found Australia's property market is no longer moving in lockstep, with affordability pressures, higher interest rates and weaker buyer confidence creating vastly different outcomes across the country. The report found that across the combined capital cities, house prices fell 1.4 per cent and unit prices dropped 1.2 per cent over the June quarter – the first quarterly decline for both property types in more than three years. Melbourne wasn't far behind Sydney, with house prices falling 3.1 per cent in the city's steepest quarterly decline in almost four years. Canberra also recorded falls across both houses and units, while Brisbane and Perth managed modest quarterly house price growth.
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The surprise standout? Adelaide. House prices here jumped 4.8 per cent in just three months, pushing the South Australian capital past Melbourne to become Australia's fourth most expensive city for houses, with a median price of $1.125 million. Perth, meanwhile, continues to post the strongest annual growth nationally, with house prices up 22.5 per cent year on year, although its rapid growth has started to slow. The report also found Australia's unit market has lost momentum, with prices falling in every capital city except Darwin, where unit values climbed five per cent over the quarter.
According to Domain's Chief of Research and Economics, Dr Nicola Powell, the latest figures mark a clear turning point.
"Three months of data confirm that higher interest rates, affordability pressures and weaker confidence are changing buyer behaviour and bringing the broad-based growth cycle to an end," Powell said.
She added that affordability is now the biggest force shaping the market, with buyers becoming increasingly selective. Nationally, listings are rising, homes are taking longer to sell and buyers are gaining more negotiating power than they've had in several years. Auction clearance rates have also fallen to their lowest level since April 2020, while more vendors are withdrawing properties as they adjust expectations. For Sydneysiders who've spent years watching prices climb ever higher, the latest figures suggest the market may finally be entering a more balanced phase. Whether that translates into better opportunities for buyers remains to be seen – Sydney is still Australia's most expensive housing market by a country mile.
Want more intel? You can check out the full report over here.
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