Seasonally speaking.

Month in review. 

The winter lull in Sydney’s property market is a tradition that recent market cycles had erased. So much so that across winter 2025, new property listings rose in June and then again in July.  This year they fell in both months, to a total of 87 new listings in June and then 94 new listings in July. Across the two months combined, that's a 42% drop on the same period last year.  

The sellers that came to market, however, found buyers with BresicWhitney selling 89 homes across Sydney in July at a total of $218 million. "It's unusual to see sales outpace new listings," said Will Gosse, BresicWhitney CEO. "That tells us that buyer demand didn't leave the market. What did change was the number of new homes coming onto it. That’s a fairly normal response to cost of living, the federal budget, interest rate movements and global instability that the market has absorbed in recent months. They’re the driving forces behind the step change we’ve seen this Winter.” 

While the compression has been concentrated across June and July, total annualised property listings across BresicWhitney are stable, down just 1% on 2025. The pattern is citywide, with Cotality’s Home Value Index noting a decrease in new listings nationally in recent weeks. The reduction in volume has been led by Sydney, with potential sellers assessing a softer market and choosing to wait until conditions improve. 

The weighting of the sales activity, by price, also reflects conditions at large. Almost half the homes BresicWhitney sold in July were at the more affordable end (below $1.5m), against less than a quarter in the same price bracket in February. Over the same period,the share of homes sold above $3m across the group fell from 34% to 19%.  

"The overarching picture here is the continued strength of more affordable homes, and momentum among first home buyers," Mr Gosse said. "What's interesting is that both things are true at once. More of our sales are happening at the affordable end, but the average price we're achieving has actually risen. That tells you premium buyers haven't disappeared, they've become more selective, and they're only moving for exceptional homes," he said.

Of BresicWhitney's auction campaigns in July, 74% sold prior to auction. For homes that went through to auction, BresicWhitney's clearance rate was 78%, compared with 77.3% in July 2025. Average days on market were 40, higher than the previous year’s 29-day-average. A further 18.2% of sales in July transacted off-market across the group. 

Cotality recorded Sydney’s auction clearance rate at 56% in late July, with 63.4% of homes that sold transacting prior to auction. This reflects buyers and sellers continuing to pursue outcomes via negotiation, rather than competition on the day. 

Less to choose from. 

Sydney house prices fell 3.3% to an average of $1.73m over the June quarter, according to Domain, marking the city's first quarterly decline since December 2022. While softening prices present opportunities for buyers, they don’t always equate to the ‘right home’being found.  

Within 10km of the CBD, the number of homes new to market halved in July. Across Sydney more broadly, the pool of homes for sale kept growing, as properties took longer to sell. Buyers who knew exactly what they wanted spent winter waiting for the right one to appear, and when it did, they moved on it. 

The homes buyers competed hardest for shared character and position: period apartments and architecturally distinct houses, most within reach of a park or the water. In Gladesville, a two-bedroom apartment sold for $1.04m to a buyer who, along with the same underbidders, had competed for the identical apartment directly below it a month earlier. In Paddington, a renovated Art Deco apartment sold before auction for $1.41m to the first buyer to inspect it. Further south, a two-bedroom apartment in Wolli Creek sold by private treaty for $818,000, after only 14 days on the market. 

"Prices and affordability are incredibly important, but so is choice in the market," Mr Gosse said. "Accessibility does not equate to suitability for the majority of buyers and that’s one of the factors that has contributed to the lull in total activity.”

Field notes. 

 Off-market and prior to auction. 

'Horaceville' in Newtown, one of only eight original Victorian filigree terraces opposite Hollis Park, sold prior to auction for $6.1m to an owner-occupier after multiple offers from buyers across Sydney, whilst a two-bedroom apartment in Elizabeth Bay sold off-market in four days for $2.1m, a building record. 

 At auction. 

A mid-century Hunters Hill waterfront by modernist architect Nino Sydney sold at auction for circa $12m, meanwhile a two-bedroom apartment in Tempe sold for $897,000, with six registered bidders and 38 contract downloads. 

Where demand concentrated. 

A home in Balmain drew 96 groups through in two weeks and sold prior to auction for $1.73m, while a two-bedroom Art Deco apartment in McMahons Point had 58 buyers through, selling prior to auction for $1.21m, 20 days after it was listed.

Days, not weeks. 

A renovated c1890 Victorian home in Rozelle sold prior to auction for $2.15m, just six days after coming to market. Meanwhile, a ground-floor Art Deco apartment on the edge of Rushcutters Bay Park sold for $720,000. The buyer enquired Monday, inspected twice that week and exchanged Friday. 

Rental market. 

Having slowed through autumn, Sydney's rental growth accelerated over the June quarter, at least in headline numbers. House rents rose 6.3%, recording the strongest quarterly growth in four years, taking the median to $850 per week, according to Domain.

Across BresicWhitney's own portfolio, 157 homes were leased in July against 129 a year earlier. While average weekly rents increased 4% annually across the group, winter had brought a cooling in on-the-ground conditions.

"There has been a stabilisation of rents from what we’ve observed, and owners are intent on meeting the market secure tenants," said BresicWhitney Head of Property Management, Chantelle Collin.

Despite vacancy remaining tight (sub-2%), some homes that had been listed for sale, had since been returned to the rental market in light of wider conditions. "This has given tenants slightly more choice in our key markets, but overall supply stays very limited,” she said. "We expect competition to build as the year closes out."

As for the impact of the Federal Government's tax changes, there were early signs of influence. "Investors are thinking harder about their assets, and whether holding property long term still suits them. Very few are actually selling, though. That will support the stability of the rental pool across Spring, when the pace does pick up.”

August outlook. 

 The pace of activity across August is already largely set, drawing on the homes that came to market through June and July rather than the homes that list from now onwards. Listings began picking up through the back half of July, though most won't reach the market until mid-August. This positions September as the market’s first read on spring activity.  

 The cash rate has held at 4.35% since June, and the Reserve Bank meets again on 11 August. 

 "The market has largely priced in another rise," Mr Gosse said. "Buyers have been purchasing with that foresight for some time, so we don't expect it to fracture the market when it comes. The biggest impacts of rate movement on activity and sentiment have largely already materialised." 

What would further materialise however, was commentary around price falls, Mr Gosse said, due to the lag in property settlements and data reporting timeframes. Sale prices are typically disclosed at settlement, six to eight weeks after exchange, meaning the figures published between now and September will largely reflect homes sold across June and July. Cotality's July index, released 1 August, recorded Sydney values down 1.4% for the month and revised the previous two months lower. “Upcoming data will more than likely demonstrate further price falls, when in reality, that’s data from sales made several weeks prior. For those looking to buy or sell over Spring, it’s worth understanding this," he said.

If Sydney is back on its traditional seasonal calendar, what eventuates over spring, is familiar. "There are more owners preparing to come to market across spring than we've seen all winter. August won't tell us a great deal about where the market is at, but September will provide a more accurate read on sentiment, demand and intention. The key question is not when demand will return, but when the confidence to act will return, and whether it can be sustained," he concluded.