Olesya Ten at Doma Realty Australia

Olesya Ten at Doma Realty Australia I am Olesya Ten, Buyers Real Estate Agent at Doma Realty, Australia. I will keep you updated on any exciting changes in the Real Estate area.

Many buyers are surprised when they discover that building a brand new home can cost less than buying an established one...
07/07/2026

Many buyers are surprised when they discover that building a brand new home can cost less than buying an established one.

With the right House & Land Package, you could secure a modern home with predictable building costs, fewer maintenance expenses and a home designed for the way families live today.

The biggest mistake I see is that people spend months inspecting older properties, competing at auctions and stretching their budget, without ever comparing what they could build for a similar investment.

Before making an offer on an existing home, it is worth asking one simple question:

“What could the same budget buy if I built instead?”

As both a licensed Mortgage Broker and Real Estate Agent, I help my clients answer that question before they commit.

Together we compare:
✔ House & Land Packages and established homes.
✔ Borrowing capacity and weekly repayments.
✔ Upfront costs, grants and available incentives.
✔ Different builders, locations and long term value.

Sometimes an established home is the better choice.

Sometimes building offers far greater value.

The important thing is knowing the difference before you sign a contract.

If you’re thinking about buying on the Gold Coast, Brisbane or anywhere across South East Queensland, send me HOME and I’ll send you a selection of House & Land Packages that match your budget, along with an estimate of the deposit and repayments you could expect.

The right decision starts with having all the facts

04/05/2026

National home value growth is clearly losing momentum, with Sydney and Melbourne now acting as the primary drag on overall performance.

According to Cotality, the national Home Value Index rose just 0.3% in April, marking the slowest pace of growth since January 2025. The headline number was weighed down by monthly declines of 0.6% in both Sydney and Melbourne.

Sydney values are now 1.0% below their November peak, while Melbourne has fallen further, sitting 1.9% below its most recent high and 2.3% below the March 2022 peak.

Every capital city recorded a slowdown in growth, although calling this a uniform market would be misleading since conditions remain highly fragmented.

In Perth, growth is clearly moderating but still robust, with values rising 2.1% in April and adding over $21,000 to the median dwelling price.

Brisbane, Adelaide and Darwin also saw a slowdown, though from a high base, with each market still recording monthly gains above 1%.

Tim Lawless notes that this easing trend has been building since late last year, as affordability and borrowing capacity constraints began to weigh on demand. More recently, higher interest rates, weakening sentiment and persistent inflation have added further downward pressure.

Buyer activity reflects this shift. Estimated home sales across the capitals over the past three months are down 5.4% year-on-year and sit 7.4% below the five-year average. At the same time, advertised supply is rising in softer markets, with listings in Sydney running 9.4% above the five-year average and Melbourne 2.2% above.

Mid-sized capitals continue to experience tighter supply, although listings are gradually increasing there as well, albeit from a low base and still below typical seasonal levels.

This imbalance between supply and demand is now evident in auction markets, where clearance rates have remained below 55% since late March.

Another structural shift is becoming more pronounced: growth is increasingly concentrated in the more affordable segments. Across every capital city, the lower quartile is outperforming, as demand gravitates toward price points supported by lending constraints and first-home buyer incentives.

The divergence is most visible in Sydney, where lower-tier house values are up 2.9% year-to-date, while the top quartile has declined by 3.3%.

Regional markets continue to show greater resilience, supported by relatively lower price points and strong internal migration. Over the first four months of the year, regional values have risen 4.2%, compared to a 1.8% increase across the combined capitals. Even so, momentum is easing, with April’s 0.9% rise marking the slowest monthly gain in nine months.

At the sub-regional level, the strongest growth has been recorded in Bunbury at +9.8%, Darling Downs-Maranoa at +7.9%, and Far West and Orana at +7.5%. Notably, no regional markets have recorded a decline so far this year.

So the real question is no longer whether the market is growing, but where and at what price point that growth still holds. Are you positioning for momentum, or for resilience?

Address

Gold Coast
Broadbeach, QLD

Telephone

+61452571780

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Olesya Ten at Doma Realty Australia posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Olesya Ten at Doma Realty Australia:

Shortcuts

Share

Category