Every Australian capital city posted a house-price fall. All eight.

Combined capital-city house prices dropped 4.7% in the September quarter, about A$59,870 off the median, the first synchronised fall across all eight capitals in 15 years, according to Domain data. The Reserve Bank of Australia's rate rise to 4.6% on September 29 is doing part of the work, but so is Canberra's own policy: changes to negative gearing and capital-gains tax after the May budget pushed investors out of the cheapest segment, which is now falling faster than luxury property. Commonwealth Bank has already cut its 2026 price-growth forecast from 5% to 3% to account for the tax changes alone. Affordability has improved, technically, but it's still 5.4% worse than a year ago once higher mortgage rates are factored in, so buyers have more leverage over sellers and smaller loans to borrow with.