Cotality: units outperform houses as national dwelling values fall 1.1%

Australia's housing downturn deepened in September, but not every segment of the market is feeling it. Cotality's national Home Value Index fell 1.1% over the month, the sixth consecutive monthly decline, leaving dwelling values 5.2% below their March 2026 peak.

Cotality research director Tim Lawless said the weakness is broad-based, with 97% of capital city suburbs recording a fall over the three months to the end of September.

Units vs houses, September breakdown:

• National: houses fell 1.2% and units 0.8%
• Sydney: houses fell 1.6% (5.6% over the quarter) against 1.0% for units (3.0% over the quarter)
• Melbourne: houses fell 0.9% and units 0.3%
• Brisbane: houses fell 1.5% and units 1.4%, so there is little gap
• Perth: units fell faster than houses (-1.4% vs -1.2%)

The September data shows a downturn that is broad, but not uniform. For developers and project marketers, that makes the segment and city mix the detail to watch.

Cotality expects housing values to keep falling into 2027, so how units perform against houses over the coming months will be a key signal for the off-the-plan market.