Market Signals

The big five have shed almost half their branches since 2017, and brokers are now writing four in five new loans. Who gains, and who gets left behind?

House purchases fell sharply in NSW last quarter while units and vacant land gained. Tax and affordability pressure may be changing what a first home is.

A tipped November hike and a forecast peak-to-trough fall above 10 per cent raise a question the headline price numbers do not answer.

Values are 6% below their April peak and half of houses sell under asking. A buyer's agent says don't wait, but rents and borrowing limits complicate that call.

Three in four first-home buyers want prices to fall further before they act. The risk is that the waiting itself keeps prices soft and stores up demand.

A wave of public infrastructure work is heading for the same builders and trades that private apartment projects rely on.

New-home investor lending rose 24% while overall investor loans fell 9%. The shift could ease supply, but renters feel the gap first.

A reported $300m farms deal says foreign capital still wants Australian farmland. The harder question is what that means for yields, and for housing.

Upper-quartile values in Sydney and Melbourne are more than 10% below peak. Cheaper homes are holding up, but for how long?

Three months of falling applications suggest tax changes aimed at helping first-timers are being swamped by rates, debt and living costs. Who is actually getting in?

A second straight week under half is a rare reading. The question is whether it signals more price falls or just a pause.

Investment fell nine per cent in the June quarter, yet 93 per cent of sellers still made money. Renters may pay for it.

Values have slid six months running, yet listings are piling up. Who blinks first?

Some sought-after Melbourne suburbs have posted double-digit rent rises in a year. The harder question is whether policy or supply is doing the pushing.