Home owners in regional Australia have been given a report card on how prices are travelling in their patch in a new report.
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It comes as the property market across Australia faces setbacks in the wake of interest rate rises and tax changes taking many investors out of the market.
Regional dwelling values, which cover both houses and units, eased by 0.1 per cent in the three months to July according to property data company Cotality.
That compares to a decline of 2.5 per cent across capital cities over the same period.
"Regional markets have consistently outperformed the capital cities since housing conditions began to soften in late 2025, but even the regional markets are now being impacted by the broader market slowdown," Cotality Australia Head of Research Gerard Burg said.
"Relative affordability continues to attract buyers to many regional markets and support internal migration from the capitals.
"However, softer buyer demand is becoming more evident across the country, with fewer markets recording the strong growth seen earlier this year."
Momentum has slowed across regional Australia with 47 of the 50 areas examined by Cotality recording weaker growth rates in the three months to July.
Of these, 22 have seen home values contract.
Where the heat is coming off
Regional NSW and Victoria recorded the weakest conditions nationally, reflecting the softer housing markets across Sydney and Melbourne where high interest rates and affordability constraints weighed on buyer demand.
That was seen in a drop in prices and properties sitting on the market for a much longer time before they sold.
Regional NSW recorded the weakest selling conditions, led by Bowral-Mittagong in the Southern Highlands region where homes spent a median of 86 days on the market.
That was followed by popular holiday spots on the NSW South Coast. In Batemans Bay homes are selling only after a median of 70 days on the market. In the St Georges Basin-Sanctuary Point area, also on the South Coast, time to sell sits at 66 days.
Typically properties have a selling campaign period of six weeks or 42 days.
Towns and cities still on the rise
While the strongest conditions for house price increases in regional Australia have been in Western Australia and South Australia over the past three months, there have also been performers in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.
In NSW inland regions such as Dubbo (3.9 per cent rise), Tamworth (2.2 per cent rise) and Albury-Wodonga (2 per cent rise) have seen prices going up over the past three months.
Those rises carry on from strong growth throughout the year, with Dubbo seeing a rise in home prices of 19.5 per cent over the past year, Tamworth 12.5 per cent and Albury-Wodonga 12.1 per cent.
Jen Melocco
Previously she lead the editorial team for two of Australia's most read property magazines for Domain, and published within premier Nine media brands The Australian Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald.
