Perth housing market update | August 2026

Key takeaways

• Perth was the only major capital to record a positive result in July, rising 0.1% — but that followed a downwardly revised 0.5% fall in June, the weakest monthly outcome since April 2020, indicating conditions weakened considerably faster than the initial data suggested.

• The reason Perth's sales volumes are falling has fundamentally changed: through 2025 they declined because there was nothing available to buy, but with total listings now 28% higher than a year ago, the constraint has shifted from the supply side to the demand side — a far less favourable dynamic for values.

• Perth's 86% five-year gain — approximately $475,000 added to the median value, the strongest performance of any capital nationally — means most owners hold substantial equity, which limits distressed selling and gives the market more capacity to absorb the current softening than any other Australian capital.

Perth was the only major capital city to record a positive result in July, with home values rising 0.1% over the month.

On paper, that makes it the last market standing.

In practice, the number tells a considerably more complicated story — because the June figure it followed was revised down to a 0.5% fall, the weakest single monthly result Perth has recorded since April 2020.

That revision matters more than the July gain.

A market that fell half a percent in June and edged up a tenth of a percent in July has not held its ground.

It has stalled, with the monthly numbers now oscillating around zero rather than compounding upward as they did throughout 2024 and 2025.

Cotality's own assessment is direct: revisions to earlier data show conditions in Perth weakened considerably faster than initially thought.

The scale of what Perth achieved before this turn remains genuinely remarkable.

Over the past five years, dwelling values have risen 86% — approximately $475,000 added to the median value.

No other Australian capital comes close to that performance over the same period, and it explains why Perth spent so long as the market that seemed immune to national headwinds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sx40d3RrRY

Immunity has a shelf life.

Sales volumes have been declining since mid-2025 — initially because there was simply nothing available to buy.

That constraint has now lifted.

Total listings are running 28% higher than a year ago as stock levels have recovered steadily since early 2026, and the market that once had buyers competing for scarce inventory now has inventory competing for scarce buyers.

Perth Market Performance

Perth's data presents a market at the precise moment of transition.

The five-year figures are extraordinary.

The monthly figures are flat. And the supply figures point clearly toward continued softening rather than stabilisation.

Segment / Metric	Current Result	Trend & Context
Monthly Change (July)	+0.1%	Only major capital in positive territory
Monthly Change (June, revised)	-0.5%	Weakest single monthly result since April 2020
5-Year Value Growth	+86%	~$475,000 added to the median value; strongest nationally
Total Listings vs. Year Ago	+28%	Stock recovering steadily since early 2026
Sales Volumes	Declining since mid-2025	Initially supply-constrained; now demand-constrained
Regional WA (July)	Still growing solidly	One of only two standout regional markets nationally

Source: Cotality, August 2026

When the Reason for Falling Sales Changes

The most useful way to understand where Perth sits in its cycle is to look at why transaction volumes have been falling — because the answer has changed, and the change is significant.

Through the second half of 2025, Perth sales were declining because there was nothing to buy.

Listings sat at extraordinarily depressed levels, and buyers who wanted to transact frequently could not find suitable stock.

Falling volumes in that environment are a symptom of strength, not weakness — they indicate demand exceeding available supply.

That is no longer what is happening. Listings have recovered 28% year-on-year.

The stock exists. Sales volumes are still falling. Which means the constraint has migrated from the supply side to the demand side — and demand-constrained markets behave very differently from supply-constrained ones.

Note: Perth's five-year gain of 86% means many owners are sitting on substantial equity, which reduces the pressure to sell into weakness and helps limit the flow of distressed listings.

The demand-side pressures are the same ones operating everywhere: three cash rate increases this year compressing borrowing capacity, higher living costs consuming household savings, deeply pessimistic consumer sentiment, and uncertainty around the federal budget's changes to negative gearing.

Perth buyers were more insulated from these forces than most, partly because the local economy has held up well and partly because Perth entered the cycle from a lower price base. That insulation has now largely worn through.

Nationally, the picture Perth is joining is unambiguous.

More than three-quarters of capital city suburbs recorded value declines over the past three months.

Upper quartile values nationally have fallen more than 3% across the same period.

Even regional Australia, which outperformed the capitals from late 2025, posted its first monthly fall since January 2023 — though regional Western Australia remains one of only two regional markets still growing solidly.

Rents, Yields, and the Investment Position

Perth's rental market has been among the tightest in the country throughout its growth cycle, and the national data suggests conditions remain firmly in favour of landlords even as capital values flatten.

Rents nationally rose 0.4% in seasonally adjusted terms during July, with annual growth holding steady at 5.9% for a third consecutive month — roughly $40 per week added to the median rent over the past year.

The longer accumulation is substantial: median rents now sit more than $200 per week above where they were five years ago, and households are directing a record share of income toward housing costs.

The national vacancy rate ticked up slightly to 1.7% in July, offering marginal relief but remaining well below the long-term average and continuing to push rents higher.

Rental & Investment Metric	Current Status & Trends
National Vacancy Rate	1.7% — edged higher but still well below long-term average
Annual Rental Growth	5.9% — steady for a third consecutive month
Median Rent Increase (Past Year)	~$40 per week added to the national median
5-Year Rent Increase	More than $200 per week above 2021 levels
Combined Capitals Gross Rental Yield	3.56% — highest level recorded since 2019
Capital City Clearance Rates	Below 50% since late May — buyer leverage nationally

Source: Cotality, August 2026

Gross rental yields across the combined capitals have lifted to 3.56% — the highest since 2019 — as falling values meet rising rents.

Perth investors who bought early in the cycle are in an unusually strong position: substantial capital gains banked, and now improving income returns on top.

Investors considering entry today face a different calculation entirely, with higher borrowing costs and the federal budget's negative gearing changes largely neutralising the benefit of the yield improvement.

Tip: With Perth listings up 28% year-on-year and values essentially flat, buyers now have the widest selection available in this market since before the boom began — a genuine window for anyone who spent 2024 and 2025 missing out in competitive conditions.

Perth's Position Heading Into Spring

Perth's July result should not be read as evidence that the city has escaped the national downturn.

It is better understood as evidence that Perth entered the downturn later and from a stronger position than everywhere else — which affects the timing and depth of what follows, not whether it happens.

The market retains genuine advantages.

An 86% five-year gain means most owners hold substantial equity, reducing the likelihood of distressed selling.

The Western Australian economy has performed well.

Regional WA remains one of the few markets in the country still posting solid growth.

And even at 28% above year-ago levels, Perth's listings have recovered rather than surged — the market has normalised, not flooded.

Values are likely to drift lower through the coming months, consistent with the national trend, but the conditions for a sharp correction are absent.

Unemployment remains low. Population growth continues to underpin demand. Construction constraints and vendor caution are both limiting supply.

The interest rate outlook has also improved at the margin, with softer inflation data shifting market expectations toward rates having peaked — though the Reserve Bank has been explicit that inflation and labour market conditions will determine policy from here.

For Perth, the questions worth watching are whether the listings recovery continues past its current level, whether the flat monthly results tip back into consistent declines, and how the investor cohort that supported so much of the boom responds to the new tax settings.

Source: Michael Yardney's Property Update by Metropole