Australian Property

Recent Australian state budgets have explicitly forecast a decline in stamp duty receipts for the same underlying reasons: higher interest rates, weaker housing turnover, and investor retreat following federal tax changes.

As part of the political horse-trading to pass legislation through the Senate, the Albanese government has agreed to a series of proposals from the Greens in exchange for support on the passage of its proposed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax.

Australia’s housing market is experiencing a sharp investor retreat, collapsing auction activity, and weakening apartment demand.

According to Cotality’s daily dwelling values index, Sydney dwelling values are falling rapidly, down 1.1% over the past 28 days.

Amid widespread criticism of the federal budget’s changes to capital gains taxes (CGT), the Albanese government last week announced that businesses with turnover of up to $10 million will be eligible for a CGT discount of 50% on the sale of active assets, up from the current revenue threshold of $2 million.

The collapse in the nation’s auction market rolled on this weekend, with the combined capital city preliminary clearance rate plunging to just 47.4%, its lowest reading since April 2020 during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the Australian housing market experiencing a price correction, driven by Sydney and Melbourne, the ABC has published an interesting report on the paralysis impacting buyers arising from the federal government’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax (CGT).

Australian tenants have experienced the sharpest increase in advertised rents in modern history.

Housing affordability in New Zealand is improving rapidly, unlike in Australia.

Excellent.

Thousands of rental properties have reportedly disappeared from the market following the Albanese government’s negative gearing and CGT reforms, with early data showing a sharp contraction in investor‑owned rental supply across major cities.

Australia’s housing market looks to be entering a major correction phase amid collapsing buyer demand.

Housing Minister Clare O’Neil delivered a speech to the National Press Club last week in which she waxed lyrical about how Australia’s housing shortage is fundamentally a supply issue.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released data on the value of the nation’s dwelling stock, which hit a record high of $12.3 trillion in the March quarter of 2026, up 11.9% year on year: The value of Australia’s housing stock has doubled since the December quarter of 2016.

Bravo!

The federal budget’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax (CGT) were designed to reduce investor demand for established housing, thereby lowering prices, without negatively impacting housing supply.

Australian tenants are facing deteriorating conditions, with Cotality’s results for May showing accelerated rental growth and vacancy rates returning to record lows.

According to Cotality’s daily dwelling values index, Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide have so far avoided the house price corrections taking place in Sydney and Melbourne.

Sydney and Melbourne are currently experiencing housing corrections, with both markets recording price falls of more than 2% over the past quarter.

May 2026 marked a new low-water mark for Australia’s auction market, with the national clearance rate plunging to an average of 52%, the lowest result since the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020.