Is now a good time to sell your house? (Updated October 2026)

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It’s the question every would-be seller asks, and the one with the least satisfying answer: is now a good time to sell? There’s no single right answer, and anyone who tells you “absolutely, sell right now!” usually has something to gain from you doing it. (We sell a service to people who are selling, so take even our view with that in mind.)

A useful answer comes from putting two things together: what the market’s actually doing, and what’s right for you. The second one usually matters more. So let’s look at both, starting with where the market sits in October 2026.

What the market’s doing right now (October 2026)

The national picture, from Cotality’s October 2026 Monthly Housing Chart Pack (data to the end of September):

Prices have turned. National home values fell 1.1% in September, the sixth monthly fall in a row. They’re down 3.7% over the quarter, flat over the past year, and 5.2% below the March 2026 peak.
It depends a lot on your city. Over the year, Sydney is down 7.0%, Melbourne 6.2% and Canberra 1.6%. Darwin is still up 11.9% and Perth 10.1%, though Perth fell 4.7% over the last three months. Every major capital went backwards over the quarter except Darwin.
Interest rates are rising. The RBA lifted the cash rate to 4.60% in September, its fourth increase this year and the highest setting in almost 15 years. Cotality estimates the four rises have cut a median-income household’s borrowing capacity by almost $90,000, so buyers have less to spend.
Buyers have more choice. Total listings are up 19.1% on a year ago, even though fewer new listings are coming on. Homes are taking a median of 41 days to sell, up from 26 a year earlier, and the median gap between first asking price and sale price has widened to 4.2%.
Auctions are harder going. The capital city clearance rate was 48.3% at the start of October, down from 64.4% in late February. Cotality says more vendors appear to be choosing private treaty over auction.
Tax reform is cooling the investor side. Under the 2026 Budget, negative gearing on established investment properties bought after Budget night (12 May 2026) is set to be wound back from 1 July 2027, alongside changes to the capital gains tax discount. Existing owners are grandfathered, but the prospect has taken some heat out of investor demand for established homes.

Put together, that’s a buyer’s market in most of the country, and a falling one in Sydney and Melbourne. It’s not a crash: values are still where they were a year ago nationally, and well above where they were a few years back. But the runaway seller’s market of 2025 is over, and buyers know it.

(These figures are an October 2026 snapshot. We update this article as new data comes out, but check your own suburb’s numbers when you read it.)

So… is it a good time to sell, or not?

It’s a harder market than a year ago, and that’s exactly why the market alone shouldn’t decide it for most people.

If you’re weighing it purely on timing, the case for not waiting has got stronger. Values are drifting down, rates are going up and there’s more stock around, so holding out for last year’s price is a bet that’s been going the wrong way for six months. The case for waiting is simply that, if you’re under no pressure to sell, you don’t have to do anything. What you shouldn’t do is wait for a rebound you can’t date. Nobody rings a bell at the bottom either, and the cost of waiting (more interest paid, life on hold, a market that may keep easing) often outweighs the few percent you were hoping to win back.

And if you do sell now, you can still sell well. Homes are selling every day in this market. The ones selling are the ones priced to today’s evidence.

The questions that matter more than market timing

For most people, these decide whether it’s a good time far more than any clearance-rate headline:

Why are you selling? Upsizing, downsizing, relocating, settling an estate, freeing up equity? A genuine life reason almost always trumps market timing.
What are you buying next? If you’re selling and buying, you’re doing both in the same market. A softer market for your sale is also a softer market for your purchase, so it can work in your favour if you’re trading up.
What’s your financial position? Your equity, your mortgage, your timeline and whether you can carry two properties (or none) for a while matter more to your outcome than picking the perfect month. With rates rising, carrying costs are going up too.
Are you ready? A well-prepared, well-priced home sells in most markets. A rushed, overpriced one struggles even in a hot one, and in a buyer’s market it sits.

If the answers point to selling, a softer market is rarely a good reason to put your life on hold.

Don’t try to time the market perfectly

It’s tempting to wait for the “perfect” moment, but market timing is a trap for sellers. You can’t know the top or the bottom until it’s passed, the experts who do this for a living disagree with each other constantly, and every month you wait carries its own cost. And remember the point above: unless you’re selling and renting, you’re buying back into whatever market you sell into. Trying to win on both the sale and the purchase by timing is close to impossible, so most people are better off acting when it’s right for them and selling well.

What our team sees

When a seller asks whether to sell now or wait, our senior agent Chenelle turns the question around: “What are you waiting for, and what do you expect to happen? The market is ever-changing and ever-evolving, and there’s no crystal ball. And if you have a mortgage, or you’re trying to buy, waiting can cost you money too.”

The sellers who are genuinely ready share the same tells: they’ve done their research, they know the timeline they want the property sold in, and they’ve finished the renovations and improvements they wanted done for sale.

And her advice for selling well in a softer market: “Market the property with high-quality images, invest in marketing (social media campaigns work hard in slower-selling suburbs), be patient, and do your research to price appropriately.”

Chenelle Moothedom, Senior Agent, PropertyNow

Read your local market, not the headlines

One big caveat to everything above: national figures hide enormous variation. Darwin and Perth are still well up on a year ago while Sydney is well down, and a falling city can still contain suburbs where good homes sell in a fortnight. Before you decide, look at what’s actually happening on your own street: recent comparable sales, how long similar homes are taking to sell, and how far sellers are coming down from their asking price. Our guide to researching and setting your selling price walks through how, and a free property value report pulls your suburb’s data together so you’re deciding on real numbers. For city-level numbers, our guide to how long it takes to sell a house has days on market for every capital and region.

A quick gut-check: is now your time to sell?

You have a real reason to move, and a plan for what’s next → probably yes. Price it to today’s market and get on with it.
You’re trading up to a bigger or more expensive home → a softer market can suit you. You may give up a little on the sale but save more on the purchase.
You’re only selling to “cash in at the top” and have nowhere you need to be → the peak price is behind you, so set your expectations to today’s evidence. If you do go ahead, price to the current market rather than last year’s.
You’d be forced to rush the preparation or accept a price you’re not happy with → take the few weeks to do it properly, then list at a price the evidence supports.

Whatever you decide, the controllables beat the calendar

The things that most affect your result aren’t the month you list. They’re the things you control. Price sharply against the current market, present the home well, market it widely, and handle buyers promptly, and you’ll sell well whatever the season. In a market like this one, pricing right at launch matters most of all: buyers are watching the same listings you are, and a home that starts too high tends to sit, then sell for less than it would have in week one. Our guide to selling in a buyer’s market goes through it step by step.

And whenever you do go ahead, you don’t have to hand a chunk of the result to an agent. Selling your own home privately keeps the commission in your pocket, which on most homes is worth more than the few percent you’d ever gain or lose by trying to time the market.

There’s a case, in fact, that selling privately suits whatever the market’s doing, and it’s one our CTO, Coreyna Blachut, makes from experience. In a cooler market like this one, not building an agent’s commission into your bottom line gives you room to be sharper on price and still walk away with more. A private listing can go live the same day, so you can be on the market quickly rather than waiting weeks to launch a campaign. In a hot market where homes are practically selling themselves, it’s worth asking what a percentage commission is really buying you. And in 2026, when most of us run our lives from a phone or tablet, listing and managing your own sale from one has never felt more natural.

The bottom line

Is now a good time to sell? In October 2026 it’s a buyer’s market in most places: values easing, rates rising, more homes for sale and longer selling times. That’s not a reason to stay put if your life is telling you to move. For most people the better question is “is it the right time for me, and can I sell well?” Decide on your own reasons and your local numbers, price to today’s evidence rather than last year’s, and keep the commission by doing it yourself. Get those right and you’ll sell, whatever the headlines say.

Decide on facts, not vibes

Wondering if now’s your time? Get a free PropertyNow property value report with your suburb’s recent sales, days on market and demand, so you can weigh up selling with real numbers in front of you.

Get your free value report

Frequently asked questions

Is now a good time to sell a house in Australia? As of October 2026 it’s a buyer’s market in most places. National values have fallen for six months in a row and are flat on a year ago, the cash rate is 4.60% after four rises this year, and homes are taking a median of 41 days to sell. For most sellers, though, your own circumstances and local market matter more than national timing. If you have a reason to move, price to today’s evidence and get on with it.

Should I sell now or wait? If you have a genuine reason to move and you’re ready, waiting for prices to recover rarely pays off. Nobody can date a rebound, and waiting has its own costs, especially with rates rising. If you’re under no pressure and only selling to cash in, there’s less urgency. Either way, decide on your own situation and local data rather than headlines.

Are house prices falling in Australia? Nationally, yes, gently. Values fell 1.1% in September 2026, the sixth monthly fall in a row, and are 5.2% below the March peak, though still flat on a year ago. Sydney and Melbourne are down more than 6% over the year, while Darwin and Perth are still up around 10% or more.

Does it matter what time of year I sell? Season has some effect: spring traditionally brings out more buyers (and more competing sellers), while winter has fewer of both. But a well-presented, well-priced home sells in any season, and current market conditions and your own readiness matter more than the month.

Is it better to sell in a rising or a falling market? A rising market can lift your sale price, but if you’re buying again you’re also buying into that higher market. A falling market can suit upsizers, who give up a little on the sale but save more on the dearer home they’re buying. There’s no universally “better” market. It depends on your plans.

Have the 2026 negative gearing changes affected the market? The 2026 Budget moved to wind back negative gearing on established investment properties bought after 12 May 2026 (taking effect from 1 July 2027), with existing owners grandfathered, alongside changes to the capital gains tax discount. It’s cooled investor demand for established homes and is one factor in the softer 2026 market. It’s a tax matter specific to your circumstances, though, so check with a registered tax adviser rather than relying on a general guide.

How do I know if it’s a good time to sell in my area? Look local: recent comparable sales in your suburb, how long similar homes are taking to sell, and how far sellers are dropping from their asking price. National figures hide big local differences. A free property value report can pull your suburb’s data together.