← The Redlands Insider

August 2026 · Issue #4

Last month this wasn’t our story. This month it is.

In last month’s issue I told you the national gloom was a southern-capital story wearing a national headline, and that our patch simply wasn’t the market being described. That was true when I wrote it. It isn’t true any more, and I’d rather you heard that from me than worked it out from a headline.

We are no longer the exception to that story. We are a slower-moving part of it. NAB’s Gerard Burg described what has happened here as a rapid deterioration in conditions, and the most surprising trend in the national market. I would rather quote him than soften him.

It’s supply, not panic

This matters, because “values are falling” and “the market has fallen over” are very different statements, and only one of them is true.

Nothing about your home has changed in six months. What changed is the number of alternatives a buyer can look at instead of your home — and that, far more than sentiment or interest rates, is what moves price in a local market. New listings have actually eased rather than flooded, so this isn’t panic-selling. It’s homes taking longer to clear while more of them sit alongside each other.

The bit that matters if you own at the upper end

Here’s a detail most of the coverage skips, and plenty of Redlands owners sit right in it. Nationally, the top quarter of the market by value fell 3.2% over the three months to July. The cheapest quarter actually rose 0.3% over the same period.

The softness is concentrated where the money is. If you own an entry-level home, the numbers you’re reading are worse than your reality. If you own a premium home, they may be better than it. That isn’t a reason to rush — but it is a reason to be realistic about a higher-value property now rather than a year from now.

What I’d actually do about it

If you were planning to sell this spring, this doesn’t change whether you should. It changes how much of the work has to be right. Presentation, price guide and campaign were the difference between a good and a great result twelve months ago. They’re now the difference between selling and sitting.

If you were planning to buy, you have something you haven’t had in about three years: choice, and enough time to use it properly.

And if you weren’t planning to do either, this is simply information. A softening quarter is not a reason to make a decision you weren’t otherwise going to make.

Greg Leigh — local Redlands specialist, Queensland Sotheby’s International Realty. 300+ homes sold across Brisbane in 9 years.
Sources: Cotality Home Value Index, released 3 August 2026, and associated commentary; NAB economics commentary as reported.