Property Intelligence
159 Intelligence pieces published
APF Intelligence publishes original market analysis covering Australian residential property, investment strategy, interest rates, and housing policy. Reports are written using RBA cash rate decisions and minutes, ABS dwelling and lending statistics, CoreLogic Home Value Indices, SQM Research vacancy data, and weekend auction clearance rate feeds from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra. Each piece is datestamped, sourced, and written in plain English without spruiker tone or vendor bias.
Coverage is organised into five streams: RBA & Macro for monetary policy and economy-wide signals; Sydney & Melbourne for the two largest capital city markets; National Property for cross-capital and regional trends; Property Finance for mortgage strategy, LVR and serviceability analysis; and Property Insurance for landlord and building cover. Use the category filters to focus on the topics most relevant to your situation, whether you're a first home buyer timing your entry, an investor rebalancing a portfolio, or simply tracking where the market is heading this cycle. New Intelligence is published only after verification.
Capital city market analysis covering auction clearance rates, median prices, and suburb trends.
Sydney & MelbourneAvalon Beach Has 23 Airbnbs Per 100 Rentals: Sydney's STRA Gap
According to realestate.com.au , Avalon Beach now has 23 Airbnb listings for every 100 private rentals, the highest ratio of any suburb in Greater Sydney, while the city's median rent has climbed to a record $800 a week.
7 Nov 2026
Sydney rentalsAirbnb
Sydney & MelbourneDural's $45m Le Palais: Australia's Largest Home Hits Market
Dural mansion Le Palais has listed for $41-45 million with 4,000sqm of floorspace, 16 times the average new Australian house, as Sydney's broader auction market clears just 48 per cent.
4 Nov 2026
Sydney propertyprestige market
Sydney & MelbourneNSW Housing Body Wants 7.5% Airbnb Levy, $26bn Raised
CHIA NSW has proposed a 7.5% levy on short-stay rentals and land tax reform to raise $26 billion over a decade, as the state's social housing waitlist hits a record 72,000 households.
4 Nov 2026
NSW housing policyshort-stay levy
Sydney & MelbourneMelbourne Braces for 440 Auctions, Half Expected to Sell
Melbourne heads into a Cup Day long weekend with 440 scheduled auctions and expectations that barely half will clear, as REA Group's Angus Moore flags a likely RBA rate hike and an auctioneer describes buyer retreat spreading "like a plague" across districts.
31 Oct 2026
Melbourne auctionsRBA rate decision
Sydney & MelbourneMelbourne Advertised Rent Rises Outpace CPI Benchmark
According to realestate.com.au , 207 of 386 Melbourne suburbs with a median house rent recorded at least a 4.5 per cent annual increase — well above the 4 per cent CPI figure for the Victorian capital in the 12 months to September. That is just over half of the 386 suburbs where house rents were assessed, not a count of individual tenants. The report compares advertised rents with CPI; it does not establish an automatic legal cap on every tenancy.
31 Oct 2026
Melbourne rentsREA Group
Sydney & MelbourneMelbourne Auctions Fall 56% But Advocate Flags $80k Savings Window
Melbourne auction listings have dropped 56% year-on-year to 774 this week, yet a buyers advocate claims early movers could save $80,000 on an $800,000 home before November's state election.
24 Oct 2026
Melbourne auctionsVictoria land tax
Sydney & MelbourneLysterfield's $3.59m Garden Estate Tests Melbourne Prestige Market
A Lysterfield estate with a Chelsea gold medallist's garden goes to auction with a $3.59 million guide, offering a live test of Melbourne's top-tier market after Domain data showed prices falling across all eight capitals.
23 Oct 2026
Melbourne auctionsLysterfield
Sydney & MelbournePoint Piper Waterfront Mansion Akuna Relisted for $55m, Down $5m From Purchase Price
A Sydney waterfront owner has cut his asking price by $5 million below what he paid three years ago, a stark marker of a downturn that has pushed the city's median house price down to $1.66 million.
22 Oct 2026
Sydney property marketmedian house price
Sydney & MelbournePort Melbourne House with Designed Crack Fetches $1,252,000 at Auction
A Melbourne home marketed around its architecturally designed crack sold for $1,252,000 after four bidders competed, defying a broader run of soft auction clearance rates across the city.
21 Oct 2026
Melbourne propertyauction results
Sydney & MelbourneWhat It Signals About Prestige and Regional Pricing
A 140-year-old Gippsland Lakes homestead with private lake access and botanical gardens has hit the market for $4.4m, landing at a moment when Victoria's broader auction market is split between prestige resilience and record-low clearance rates.
19 Oct 2026
Victoria propertyGippsland Lakes
Sydney & MelbourneA Sharp Sale in a Soft Market
An industrial-style modernist home in Port Melbourne drew 120 inspection groups and sold for $1.252m within 10 days, a signal that distinctive, well-presented stock is still cutting through a patchy Melbourne auction market.
18 Oct 2026
Melbourne propertyPort Melbourne
Sydney & MelbourneSydney Investor Buys Three NSW Houses for $340k
Priced out of Sydney, one investor assembled a three-house regional NSW portfolio for $340,000 in six months — less than a typical Sydney deposit — as Cotality data shows national sales volumes down more than 20% and clearance rates splitting 25 points between suburbs.
16 Oct 2026
Sydney propertyregional NSW investing
Sydney & MelbourneSydney Suburbs Defy Seven-Month Price Slide
Sydney's housing market has posted seven straight months of price falls, yet realestate.com.au data shows a cluster of suburbs recording growth over the past three months as buyer demand fragments.
15 Oct 2026
Sydney property marketsuburb price growth
Sydney & MelbournePoint Piper Mansion Elton John Once Eyed Lists for $130m
A Sydney harbourside mansion once eyed by Elton John has listed for $130 million, more than ten times his reported offer, as Sydney's ultra-prestige tier diverges sharply from the broader $2 million-plus cohort.
14 Oct 2026
Sydney propertyprestige market
Sydney & MelbourneOne in 10 Victorian Auctions Thrown Into Doubt by New Laws
New Carroll government laws have thrown roughly one in 10 Victorian auctions into doubt in their first week, adding fresh uncertainty to an already soft spring selling season.
13 Oct 2026
Victorian auction lawsMelbourne property market
Sydney & MelbourneSeized SA Home Sells Sight Unseen, 12 Bidders Despite $100k Repairs
A council-seized South Australian home with an estimated $100,000 repair bill drew 12 bidders and sold sight unseen, highlighting how distressed-property demand is holding firm even as capital city clearance rates soften.
12 Oct 2026
South Australia propertyauction clearance rate
Sydney & MelbourneWhat Vendors Are Actually Doing
One in eight Melbourne vendors disclosed their auction reserve before bidding began this weekend, as confusion over Victoria's new underquoting laws reshapes campaign strategy.
10 Oct 2026
Melbourne auctionsVictoria property law
Sydney & MelbourneSydney Fringe House Listing Includes Rare 8.7-Acre Farmland Bonus
A south-west Sydney house listed with 8.7 acres of attached farmland highlights how fringe-growth-corridor land holdings are being repackaged for buyers as the city's median rent hits a record $800 a week.
9 Oct 2026
Sydney propertygrowth corridors
Sydney & MelbourneVictoria's Land Tax Grab Falls $1bn Short Amid Owner Exodus
Victoria's Covid Debt Levy and land tax surcharges have fallen almost $1 billion short of forecast revenue as property owners exit the state, forcing the Carroll government to wind back the scheme.
7 Oct 2026
Victoria land taxMelbourne property
Sydney & MelbourneThe Erskineville Sale in Detail
An engaged couple paid $1,825,000 for an Erskineville house after the vendor slashed the reserve by $25,000, part of a broader shift away from auction-day risk across Sydney and Melbourne.
6 Oct 2026
Sydney propertyMelbourne property
Sydney & MelbourneDog's Spontaneous Stroll Leads Retirees to $675k Clontarf Auction Win
A retired couple who swore they weren't interested in a bayside property ended up buying it at auction, a reversal that mirrors a broader pattern of spring 2026 campaigns rewarding emotional, last-minute bidding over cautious pre-auction positioning.
5 Oct 2026
Melbourne auctionsbayside property
Sydney & MelbourneGladstone Park Home Sells $101k Over Reserve as Vic Auction Rules Shift
Melbourne sellers are disclosing reserve prices early ahead of a major auction rule overhaul, and buyers are responding by paying up to $101,000 above the published figure in competitive campaigns.
4 Oct 2026
Melbourne auctionsauction reserve
Sydney & MelbourneSydney's Distress Sale Hotspots: Hawkesbury, Blacktown Lead as Rates Bite
The Sydney Morning Herald reports a growing cluster of Sydney suburbs where owners are selling under financial pressure, a trend experts expect to deepen as high interest rates persist alongside 276,000 unsold homes nationally.
3 Oct 2026
Sydney propertydistress sales
Sydney & MelbourneDouble Bay's 78% Clearance Dwarfs Sydney Prestige Rivals
Double Bay is clearing 78% of auction stock in just 18 days while Surry Hills languishes at 73% and 23 days, exposing a widening split in Sydney's $1.9m-$3.5m prestige bracket as the cash rate sits at 4.60%.
2 Oct 2026
Sydney auctionsDouble Bay