First published 4 Nov 2026, 10:45am
Auction clearance rates have remained low over spring, but market performance has varied across regions. Picture: Sarah Wilson
Sydney’s outer regions have become the last remaining areas resisting the carnage unfolding across the greater city housing market in the wake of brutal rate hikes and government tax reforms.
Exclusive realestate.com.au figures showed Sydney dwelling prices dropped another 0.4 per cent over October and are now an average of 6.6 per cent lower than a year ago .
Price falls were widespread across suburbs, but there was one major city region where home prices have only recorded minor falls this year, with prices actually increasing over October.
Dwelling values on The Central Coast inched up by 0.04 per cent over October and are only 2.4 per cent below levels recorded last year.
By contrast, the Hills District and north shore recorded 0.5-0.7 per cent drops for the month and prices in both regions are nearly 10 per cent lower than last year.
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers’s announcement of property tax reforms in the May budget and RBA governor Michele Bullock announcement of five rate hikes have pushed down values.
Dwelling values in both the Ryde area and eastern suburbs were down about 8 per cent annually, stripping hundreds of thousands off the value of local homes. Both regions now have suburbs where units are cheaper than they were in 2021.
“The market adjustment remains uneven,” said Realestate.com.au economist Eleanor Creagh.
Ms Creagh observed in realestate.com.au’s latest Home Price Index report that cheaper categories of housing such as units and regional houses were performing better.
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Agents attributed The Central Coast’s stronger performance relative to other regions to the more affordable home values, which were attracting more budget conscious buyers.
The Central Coast has also had one of the lowest rates of sales turnover across Greater Sydney – families are staying in their homes longer and fewer stock has come to market in some suburbs.
Sydney’s outer southwest, including areas such as Campbelltown and Camden, was one of the other rare regions where the downturn has had a softer impact up until now.
Dwelling values in the region are down just 3 per cent on levels reported last year.
A similar trend emerged in the outer west and Blue Mountains – prices dropped by 4 per cent annually, a smaller decline than they citywide trend. The region includes Penrith.
The Central Coast, outer southwest and outer west and Blue Mountains are the only regions in the Greater Sydney area where the average home costs less than $1 million.
Ray White economist Nerida Conisbee said interest rate hikes earlier this year had triggered a flight to cheaper markets as buyers with reduced budgets moved to areas they could still afford.
She cautioned that some cheaper markets could start to see larger falls because of the latest rate hike announced on Melbourne Cup Day, but cheaper prices did make them generally more resilient.
“Rate hikes will factor into the decisions of buyers and sellers,” she said. “But the supply of new builds is slowing as construction costs rise and that will put a floor under prices in a lot of places.”
My Housing Market economist Andrew Wilson said there was a certain subset of buyers who was “just getting on with it” and this was slowing the rate of price declines in some areas.
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