Real estate agent shares blunt message for 'greedy' homeowners refusing to sell as prices fall across Australia

By SARAH BROOKES - SENIOR REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 06:44, 1 July 2026 | Updated: 06:51, 1 July 2026 A real estate agent has shared a blunt message to 'greedy' homeowners refusing to put their property on the market as prices fall around the country.  A-Class Estate Agents director Amir Jahan said some vendors had unrealistic expectations after watching modest suburban homes soar hundreds of thousands of dollars in value during the Covid pandemic housing boom.  The market has since turned, with Cotality data showing on Wednesday that national average home prices fell 0.4 per cent in June while capital city prices dropped 0.6 per cent, their third monthly fall in a row.  Prices have now fallen 3.7 per cent in Sydney and Melbourne from their recent highs while the boom-time cities of Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth are also seeing much slower growth, with Adelaide stalling and Brisbane slowing to a crawl.  'A lot of sellers have become greedy,' Mr Jahan told Daily Mail. 'They watched homes worth $600,000 or $700,000 suddenly sell for $1.4million or $1.5million, and now they think their own property should fetch even more. 'They see a neighbour sell for a record price and say if they got $1.4million, I want $1.5million.'  AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said vendors do not appear to be in a rush to sell, with listings remaining below levels seen a year ago. Amir Jahan (pictured) said some vendors had unrealistic price expectations after watching modest suburban homes soar hundreds of thousands of dollars in the boom years He added that confidence has plunged, along with perceptions of whether it is a good time to buy a home.  The gloomy outlook comes as Mr Oliver forecasts property prices will continue falling over the next two years. He has forecast national average property prices to fall around two per cent this calendar year and by a further six per cent over 2026 and 2027 with Sydney prices likely to tumble 11 per cent.  'The broad picture is one of an accelerating weakening in the property market since late last year reflecting a combination of rate hikes, the Budget tax hikes on investors, poor affordability and depressed buyer confidence,' he said. 'The combination of a rising long-term trend in mortgage rates after a 30-year down trend, record poor affordability, the removal of virtually all property tax concessions and a political shift towards lower immigration may mean the 30-year super cycle upswing in home prices may be close to over.' Mr Oliver said predictions of a national property price crash of 20 per cent or more are  likely to be 'wide of the mark'. 'A crash would require wide scale forced selling by homeowners – but without much higher unemployment forcing homeowners to sell this is unlikely as Australians will do whatever they can to keep servicing their mortgage,' he said. The Albanese government has already committed to sweeping tax changes after delivering its Budget last month. As sellers hold firm on their price expectations, buyers are becoming increasingly sceptical (stock image) Under the reforms, the existing 50 per cent capital gains tax discount would be scrapped and replaced with a new system featuring a 30 per cent flat tax and an inflation discount. Negative gearing rules would also be tightened, with the tax concessions restricted to newly built properties while existing arrangements in place before May 12 would be grandfathered. The changes are expected to reduce the appeal of residential property investment, potentially shrinking buyer demand.  Cotality research director Tim Lawless said the property market was facing multiple headwinds, including the tax measures unveiled in the Budget. 'Even before interest rates rose, we were seeing affordability hurdles weighing on buyer demand,' he said. 'Higher cost-of-living pressures, deeply pessimistic sentiment and a further dampening of demand via property taxation changes announced in the federal budget are all contributing to weaker housing conditions.' Mr Lawless said the slowdown was evident across the broader market, pointing to auction clearance rates remaining below 50 per cent since the final week of May, alongside weaker sales activity and a growing number of homes sitting on the market.  'Such low clearance rates indicate a mismatch between buyer and seller pricing expectations,' he said. 'Buyers now have more stock to choose from and less urgency in their decision making.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.