Brisbane house prices have been easing since May 2026. Cotality puts the median Greater Brisbane house value at $1,146,078 at the end of September, down 4.9% over the quarter but still 5.3% higher than a year ago. For anyone buying a home to live in, that means more choice and more time than at any point in the last few years, as long as you know what a property is worth before you make an offer.
I’m a Registered Property Valuer and Buyer’s Agent based in Ashgrove, and this is my read on where prices are, why they’ve turned and how I’d approach buying a family home in Brisbane at the moment. I’ll keep this page up to date as new figures come out, rather than starting a fresh post every year.
What is the median house price in Brisbane right now?
The median house value across Greater Brisbane was $1,146,078 at 30 September 2026, according to the Cotality Home Value Index. Units sat at $834,627 and all dwellings at $1,048,880.
Other measures land in a similar place. Domain’s September quarter report had the median house price down 5.4% to $1,152,122, and PropTrack had the typical Brisbane home at $1.033 million. The indexes never match exactly because they measure slightly differently, and that doesn’t worry me, because they’re all pointing the same way.
It helps to remember what a median is. It’s the middle point of every sale across a city that stretches from Ipswich to Redcliffe, so it tells you a lot about the direction of the market and very little about what a particular house in Ashgrove or The Gap is worth. That’s a question for a proper valuation of the house itself.
Are Brisbane house prices falling?
Yes, gently, after a very strong run. Brisbane dwelling values fell 1.5% in September, the sharpest monthly fall of any capital city, and they’re now 5.4% below their May 2026 peak. Over the year they’re still up 5.9%, and over five years they’ve risen 55.4%, so most owners are still well ahead of where they started.
Cotality points to affordability, higher interest rates, living costs and weaker confidence as the main reasons. The Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate to 4.60% on 29 September, its highest level since 2011, and the federal budget’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax have taken a lot of investors out of the market. The September figures were collected before that rate rise, so I expect the next set to show a little more softening.
The clearest sign of the change is how few homes are selling. Brisbane sales over the three months to September were 27.2% lower than a year earlier, the steepest drop of any capital, and across the capital cities the median time to sell has stretched from 23 days to 39. Fewer buyers are competing for each home, which is exactly the shift a careful owner-occupier can use.
What are house prices doing in Brisbane’s inner west?
The six inner-west suburbs I work in most sit well above the Brisbane median. These are Cotality’s median house values from the suburb reports I pulled on 23 October 2026:
| Suburb | Median house value |
|---|---|
| Paddington | $2,129,504 |
| Bardon | $2,115,413 |
| Auchenflower | $2,040,702 |
| Ashgrove | $1,963,545 |
| Red Hill | $1,834,061 |
| The Gap | $1,397,041 |
Families pay that premium for good schools, character homes, short trips into the city and almost no new land to build on. What’s interesting is that the inner west isn’t moving as one market. Between my mid-year suburb update and October, Cotality’s median house value edged up in Red Hill and Auchenflower and held flat in Bardon, while Ashgrove, Paddington and The Gap eased with the rest of Brisbane. Scarce, tightly held streets are cushioning some suburbs more than others.
You can see the pace slow on the ground too. In Ashgrove, homes listed in the week to 23 October had been on the market for an average of 44.9 days, and sellers were accepting an average of 1.47% below their asking price, according to RP Data. That’s a market where a buyer has room to do their homework properly.
What are recent sales showing in the inner west?
The median only tells part of the story, so here are a few recent sales from the suburbs I cover that show how much the individual home matters.
Ashgrove. 4 Don Street, an unrenovated three-bedroom character home on 481m2, sold at auction on 22 August 2026 for $1,150,500. That’s around $800,000 under the suburb’s median house value, which is a good reminder that condition and renovation potential move price more than the suburb name does.
Bardon. 9 Clarke Street, an unrenovated two-bedroom weatherboard cottage on 442m2, sold on 21 August 2026 for $1,320,000. That’s well under Bardon’s 12-month median sale price of $2,115,000, and it shows how much of Bardon’s value sits in the land and the street, with buyers paying for the chance to renovate or rebuild in a suburb where good blocks rarely come up.
Red Hill. 7 Harriet Street, a three-bedroom home on 435m2, sold on 5 August 2026 for $1,800,000, right on Red Hill’s 12-month median sale price. In a suburb this steep, the usability of the block does a lot of the work.
Paddington. 21 Beck Street, a four-bedroom character home built around 1920 on 441m2, sold on 18 August 2026 for $1,922,500, below Paddington’s 12-month median sale price of $2,250,000.
The Gap. 14 Cobble Street, a four-bedroom home on 850m2, sold on 20 August 2026 for $1,350,000. The Gap is still the most accessible way into the area for a family wanting a bigger block, and it had the most houses listed for sale over the past year (197).
Auchenflower. 74 Agnes Street, a three-bedroom home on 899m2, sold at auction on 22 August 2026 for $3,225,000. Large blocks this close to the city are rare, and buyers still pay strongly for them in a softer market.
Each suburb page has the latest sales and my notes on its best pockets, and I refresh them every month.
Is now a good time to buy a home in Brisbane?
If you’re buying a home you plan to live in for ten years or more, a softer market is often a better time to buy than a rising one. There are more homes to choose from, there’s time to get building and pest reports and finance sorted without being rushed, and sellers are more open to conditions and sensible offers than they were a year ago.
The trade-off is that prices could ease a little further over the coming months. I wouldn’t try to pick the exact bottom, because hardly anyone does. I’d put the energy into paying the right price for the right home, and into making sure the repayments still sit comfortably at today’s rates. Your broker is the best person to confirm what you can borrow, and this isn’t financial advice.
How do you avoid overpaying when prices are falling?
This is where being a valuer makes the biggest difference, because in a falling market the usual shortcuts start to mislead. These are the checks I run on every home before I recommend an offer.
Value against the latest sales, not last summer’s. With Brisbane values down 4.7% over the September quarter, a comparable sale from six months ago can easily be 4% or 5% too high. I give the most weight to sales from the last 60 to 90 days and adjust older ones down before comparing.
Treat the price guide as the seller’s hope. Asking prices lag the market on the way down. How long a home has been listed and whether the price has already been cut tell you far more about where the seller really is.
Expect the bank’s valuation to be careful. Bank valuers tend to be conservative when prices are easing. If your contract price comes in above the bank’s figure, the gap comes out of your own pocket, so it pays to know the value yourself first.
Pay for quality, not just a lower price. In every downturn I’ve seen, the compromised homes fall furthest and take longest to recover: the busy road, the poor orientation, the flood overlay. If you’re unsure about flooding, my guide on how to check if a property is flood affected in Brisbane walks through the free council tools.
Set your walk-away figure before the auction. Decide on your number when you’re calm and have the evidence in front of you, not with the auctioneer looking at you.
What happens next for Brisbane house prices?
I’d be wary of anyone who tells you exactly when prices will bottom. Over the next couple of months I’ll be looking at the Reserve Bank’s 3 November decision, Cotality’s October figures and how many new listings come out over spring. Underneath the short-term softness, Brisbane’s longer-term drivers are still in place: steady population growth, a tight supply of established family homes in the middle ring and the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
I’ll update this page as the new numbers arrive.
Brisbane house prices: frequently asked questions
What is the average house price in Brisbane?
Most reports use the median rather than the average, because a few very expensive sales push an average up. Cotality’s median house value for Greater Brisbane was $1,146,078 at 30 September 2026, and the median for all dwellings was $1,048,880.
How much have Brisbane house prices fallen?
Brisbane dwelling values were 5.4% below their May 2026 peak at the end of September, according to Cotality. They were still 5.9% higher than a year earlier.
Will Brisbane house prices keep falling?
A little more easing is likely in the short term, because the 29 September rate rise isn’t yet reflected in the figures and sales volumes are well down. The longer-term drivers of population growth and limited supply of established homes haven’t changed.
What is the cheapest suburb to buy a house in Brisbane’s inner west?
Of the six inner-west suburbs I cover, The Gap has the lowest median house value at $1,397,041 (Cotality, October 2026). Paddington is the highest at $2,129,504.
Should I wait for prices to drop further before I buy?
If you’ve found the right home and the numbers work for you at today’s rates, waiting for the bottom can cost you the house. Buyers have more negotiating room now than they’ve had for several years, and that’s often worth more than a small further fall.
Thinking about buying in Brisbane?
If you’re thinking about buying in Brisbane’s inner west or simply want to talk through what I’m seeing, I’m always happy to share my view. You can book a free discovery call at a time that suits you.
Take care, Sam Price. Buyer’s Agent and Registered Property Valuer, Brisbane.
Sources: Cotality Home Value Index, October 2026 release (data to 30 September 2026); Cotality Suburb Profile Reports, 23 October 2026; RP Data Market Insights, week to 23 October 2026; sales from RP Data; Domain September quarter house price report; PropTrack Home Price Index, September 2026; ABC News, 30 September 2026.