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Perth records fastest property downturn in four decades

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Thompson, H. (2026, November 10). Perth records fastest property downturn in four decades. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/perth-records-fastest-property-downturn-in-four-decades-20261111-p61cvd.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

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The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-11-10 · by Holly Thompson

Quick Summary

Perth's property market has experienced a rapid decline over the past six months, with home values dropping by 8.9% from their April record high—marking the steepest decrease in four decades according to Cotality data. This downturn is attributed to factors such as higher interest rates and energy costs, along with reduced consumer confidence. The number of houses sold in Perth declined by 21.4% over a year, and properties now stay on the market an average of 28 days—three times longer than just three months ago. Cotality’s research head Gerard Burg predicts that this trend will continue into 2027 before any recovery might occur.
Written by AI on 2026-11-11, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of November 10, 2026, Perth's home values have experienced their fastest decline in property prices over the past four decades, according to Cotality. Dwelling values across Perth's metropolitan area are now 8.9% below the record high set in April, with the number of houses sold declining by 21.4% nationally over the 12 months to October. Additionally, Perth homes spend an average of 28 days on the market, three times longer than just three months ago.

Cotality’s head of research, Gerard Burg, attributes this downturn to various factors including affordability constraints, higher interest rates, cost-of-living pressures (particularly related to energy prices), weak consumer confidence, and changes to investor policies in the federal budget. Perth follows Sydney, which recorded an even steeper decline, but is now experiencing its own significant market correction.

Written for “Perth Property Market Downturn” on 2026-11-11, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

Perth Property Market Downturn
Economy/Business · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 11% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 2 of 23 claims Outlet record 67/100
“The articles discuss different time frames and details of Perth's property market downturn.”
ABC News (AU)
Leans left Hedges 5 of 38 claims Outlet record 67/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the housing market decline; one focuses on Perth's property values and sales volume, while the other covers a national drop in home loans and investor activity.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Leans left Hedges 2 of 31 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the property market decline, one focusing on Perth's rapid downturn in home values and sales, while the other discusses a national trend in investor loans related to tax changes.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
11%
2 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-11 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 6739 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Holly Thompson
19 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
“We expect the downturn will continue in coming months and into 2027, albeit the pace of the decline is likely to slow,” Burg said.
2026-11-10 · assertive framing · Perth records fastest property downturn in four decades
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Also by Holly Thompson
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 19 articles by Holly Thompson →

Topics

Brisbane Cotality Melbourne Perth Sydney

Subjects

Perth GPE · 6× Burg PERSON · 4× Cotality GPE · 2× Sydney GPE · 2× Australia GPE · 1× Brisbane GPE · 1× Gerard Burg PERSON · 1× Melbourne GPE · 1× RBA ORG · 1×

Narrative

Cotality’s head of research, Gerard Burg, said the downturn in the housing market reflected a build up in pressures on the demand side, including affordability constraints, higher interest rates, cost-of-living – particularly related to energy prices – weak consumer confidence and changes to investor policies in the federal budget. “Initially, the downturn was led by Sydney and Melbourne, however the longer downturn in these markets has seen more time for an adjustment on the supply side, meaning fewer homes being listed to bring more balance between supply and demand,” he said.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-11
“We expect the downturn will continue in coming months and into 2027, albeit the pace of the decline is likely to slow,” Burg said.
2026-11-11 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Perth records fastest property downturn in four decades · assertive framing

Claims (19 extracted, 2 hedged)

Perth’s home values have plummeted over the past six months, with new figures revealing it to be the fastest decline in property prices over the past four decades. asserted
it → plummet → decades
According to Cotality, dwelling values across the metropolitan area are now 8.9 per cent below the record high in April – the steepest decline over a comparable period in 40 years. uncertain
values → accord → years
The only capital city to record a steeper decline was Sydney. asserted
city → record → decline
The number of houses sold in Perth also declined by 21.4 per cent, the biggest drop nationally, over the 12 months to October. And Perth houses spent three times longer on the market when compared to just three months ago, sitting at 28 days on average. asserted
houses → sell → days
Cotality’s head of research, Gerard Burg, said the downturn in the housing market reflected a build up in pressures on the demand side, including affordability constraints, higher interest rates, cost-of-living – particularly related to energy prices – weak consumer confidence and changes to investor policies in the federal budget. “Initially, the downturn was led by Sydney and Melbourne, however the longer downturn in these markets has seen more time for an adjustment on the supply side, meaning fewer homes being listed to bring more balance between supply and demand,” he said. asserted
he → say → supply
“This process has happened more slowly in markets like Brisbane and Perth, meaning that we’ve seen a large increase in the stock of available homes to purchase. asserted
we → happen → homes
“The total listings of properties for sale in Perth sat 8 per cent above the five-year average in the four weeks ending November 8, compared with around 55 per cent below average at the end of January.” asserted
listings → sit → January
Burg said this meant it was now a buyers’ market – but “only because so many potential buyers have been pushed to the sidelines”. asserted
buyers → say → sidelines
“Those demand side pressures have limited the pool of buyers who have both the confidence and the financial capacity to transact, so those that remain have more choice, more time to consider and more time to negotiate with vendors,” he said. asserted
he → limit → vendors
“This puts downward pressure on home values.” asserted
This → put → values
Burg said for the majority of homeowners, the sizeable increase in home values over the past five years provided a “considerable buffer” to withstand a large downturn. asserted
increase → say → downturn
But for those who purchased close to the peak, the risk of negative equity was heightened, particularly those who did so using the 5 per cent deposit scheme. asserted
who → purchase → scheme
“We expect the downturn will continue in coming months and into 2027, albeit the pace of the decline is likely to slow,” Burg said. asserted
Burg → expect → decline
“The market is unlikely to turn around until buyers have enough confidence and financial capacity to return en masse, which may require the RBA to commence a rate cutting cycle. uncertain
which → turn → cycle
“At this point in time, the earliest that appears possible is the second half of 2027.” asserted
that → appear → 2027
Nationally, home values across Australia’s combined capital cities fell for the seventh consecutive month in October, taking cumulative losses to 8.1 per cent. asserted
values → fall → cent
The sharp drop leaves the housing market 0.1 percentage point shy of the largest peak-to-trough decline seen in the past four decades. asserted
drop → leave → decades
“This is the fastest decline on record, and we would expect next month it will be the largest overall,” Burg said. asserted
Burg → expect → record
“However there is some way to go to record the largest decline overall in Perth – that was 15.3 per cent from June 2014 through July 2019.” asserted
that → be → July
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