Brisbane Property Market Update - August 2026

After five extraordinary years, Brisbane’s property market has paused for breath. Values slipped for a second consecutive month in July, and the downturn that began in the southern capitals has now clearly arrived in Brisbane. As always, we’ll cut through the noise and look at what’s happening, what’s driving it, and what it means for Brisbane property owners.

Brisbane at a glance: the run has paused

Brisbane dwelling values fell 0.6% in July according to the Cotality Home Value Index, the second consecutive monthly decline, leaving values 0.7% below their May peak. It’s important to put this in context though, values remain 14.8% higher than a year ago, comfortably the strongest annual growth of the major capitals, and the median dwelling value now sits at $1.1m.

Zoom out and the numbers are remarkable. Brisbane values are up more than 70% over five years and roughly 117% over ten. After a run like that, some consolidation isn’t just unsurprising, it’s arguably healthy.

Brisbane also isn’t moving in isolation. National values fell 0.7% in July, the largest single-month decline since December 2022, with Sydney down 1.4% and Melbourne down 1.2%.

What’s driving the shift?

1. Interest rates. The RBA has lifted the cash rate three times this year, 75 basis points in total, back to 4.35%, reducing borrowing capacity across the country.
2. Tax changes & Buyer Confidence. The May Budget’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax have made investors cautious. Many are sitting on the sidelines; some are selling. As we wrote in June, a tax headline is rarely a good reason to sell a sound asset.

Where to from here? June quarter inflation came in softer than expected and most economists now expect the RBA to stay on hold for the rest of the year. But it is very difficult to predict the short-term performance of any market at any point, and we’d be wary of anyone who claims otherwise.

Sellers are pulling back

Across the country, the flow of new listings has deteriorated in recent weeks as would-be vendors assess conditions and choose to wait. Sellers who don’t need to sell, aren’t. In Brisbane, total listings remain below the levels of a year ago even after a winter lift, so the market is hardly being flooded with stock.

Properties are taking longer to sell and clearance rates are subdued, but if the pullback in new listings continues, history suggests it will limit how far values fall. Vendor retreat is typically how housing downturns find their floor.

The rental market: still the tightest of the majors

Brisbane’s rental market remains extraordinarily tight:

• House rents rose 6.7% and unit rents 6.2% over the past year (Cotality), ahead of the other major capitals

• Vacancy sits at just 0.9% (SQM Research, June), among the lowest readings on record

• Gross yields are 3.4%, compressed by five years of price growth

Well-located, well-presented and correctly priced properties continue to lease quickly, often with multiple applications in the first week. And rental supply is only getting tighter.

The medium-term picture

In the short term, further softness wouldn’t surprise us. Over the medium term, though, Brisbane’s fundamentals haven’t gone anywhere: continued strong interstate migration, a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure pipeline running through to the 2032 Olympics, and construction costs that continue to constrain new supply.

If anything, this cycle is a reminder that markets take turns. Brisbane’s spectacular five years came while Melbourne went roughly nowhere, and the previous decade was the reverse. Timing any single market is very difficult, which is why we keep coming back to diversification.

Two ways to play it (without buying another property)

A quick update on two things many of you have asked about. Last month we launched our second fund, the LongView Home Equity Fund, in partnership with Warakirri Asset Management, following the strong performance of Fund 1 (now closed to new investors). The Fund gives wholesale investors exposure to the capital growth of a diversified portfolio of quality family homes across the eastern capitals, including South-East Queensland, without the stamp duty, the tenants or the management. If you’d like the Fund overview, just reach out.

And for existing owners: HomeFlex is now open to investment properties. HomeFlex lets you release equity today in exchange for a share of your property’s future growth, with no interest, no monthly repayments and no refinance. If you need capital, whether to do renovations, reduce debt or for lifestyle factors, but don’t want to sell into a softening market (or give up the grandfathered tax treatment on a property you already hold which, once sold, is gone for good), it’s well worth understanding. More than 200 clients have used HomeFlex over the past 18 months.

In a softer market, decisions matter more, not less. Whether you’re weighing up selling, holding, releasing equity or buying, we can help you look at the whole picture before you do anything. As always, feel free to reach out.