The $345,000 sign that it's now a buyer's market in Australia: 'Starting to ease'

Published: 05:18, 6 August 2026 | Updated: 05:22, 6 August 2026 A multi-million dollar home has sold for $345,000 less than what it was bought for months earlier, exposing the bleak reality facing home sellers.  The six-bedroom property in Eastwood, north-west Sydney, was purchased for $4.7million in October and then sold at auction for $4.3million on Saturday.  Auctioneer Tom Panos said the result reflected a 'total loss of confidence' in the marketplace. Mr Panos, who conducts between 10 and 15 auctions every Saturday, said he was seeing more sellers withdraw or cancel their auctions altogether. 'This one did go ahead, but because there were no registered bidders, the auction was cancelled as well,' he said.   For those auctions that do proceed, significant losses are being recorded as sellers look to cut their losses and move on. The downturn comes after the government proposed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions, which would reduce the advantages available to property investors when buying and selling investment properties. Cotality data revealed national home values fell by 0.7 per cent in July, marking the biggest monthly decline since December 2022. The six-bedroom property in Eastwood, north-west Sydney, was purchased for $4.7million in October and then sold at auction for $4.3million on Saturday  'Unfortunately, we're in a gridlock market, and I don't think this was the consequence that the government wanted when they set the budget,' Mr Panos told the Sydney Morning Herald. Selling agent of the Eastwood property Andy Lin from Uniland Real Estate said the market remained challenging. 'The market is still tough. So they are accepting the market,' he said.  The result echoes a Domain report that found Australia's property gains are starting to slow, with the share of profitable resales falling for both houses and units. Owners in some of Sydney's most exclusive suburbs, including Bondi and Bellevue Hill, have seen median house values drop by as much as $450,000. Fewer than half of the homes scheduled for auction actually sold on or before auction day, according to data published by property platform Domain. Interest rates, tax changes, the war in Iran and rising fuel prices are all contributing to low buyer confidence, according to AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver. He expects weak auction clearance rates to continue until the end of the year. The downturn comes after the government proposed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions, which would reduce the advantages available to property investors when buying and selling investment properties  Are property investors to blame for Australia's housing market troubles, or are they victims of policy shifts? What's your view?'At the moment, you've got a mismatch between what buyers are prepared to pay and what vendors want,' Dr Oliver said. 'Vendors' expectations are inflated and based on the boom-time conditions that prevailed last year. Those boom-time conditions are long gone.'  But the downturn is not being felt evenly across the country, with Domain finding stronger results for sellers in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. The figures released this week found that nationally, 97.4 per cent of house resales still generated a profit, while unit profitability remained unchanged at 88.6 per cent. Domain chief residential economist Dr Nicola Powell said the shift was modest but significant. 'This is the first sign that Australia's long run of property profits is starting to ease, but it's far from a collapse in seller fortunes,' she said. 'Most homeowners are still making substantial gains, even as softer market conditions begin to affect resale outcomes.' The downturn also hit some of Melbourne's best-known postcodes, from the blue-chip suburbs of Toorak and South Yarra to the beachside enclaves of Brighton and Sandringham and the family-friendly eastern hubs of Glen Waverley and Doncaster.