Live: House prices drop and data set to show continued shortfall of homes

Australian house prices are falling in some major capitals, and new building approvals data is set to show a continued shortfall of homes. Follow the day's financial news and insights from our specialist business reporters on our live blog.Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:31amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:31amMarket snapshot ASX 200 futures: -0.2% to 9,002 pointsAustralian dollar: -0.03% to 71.64 US cents Dow Jones: -0.7% to 53,185 pointsS&P 500: -0.3% to 7,686 pointsNasdaq: -0.1% to 26,370 pointsFTSE: +0.2% to 10,824 points EuroStoxx: -0.6% to 651 points Spot gold: -0.1% to $US4,448/ounce Brent crude: +3% to $US90.75/barrel Iron ore: +0.2% to $US95.84/tonne Bitcoin: +1.6% to $US78,941Prices current around 7:30am AESTTue 1 Sep 2026 at 8:15amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 8:15amWhere are you? Property markets increasingly divergent across the nationGreat detail from David Taylor's article about our house prices falls.Independent economist Alan Oster pointed to some large geographical differences across the national housing market."If you go to Perth, they're still going at an annualised rate of 20 per cent."If you're in Sydney and Melbourne, they're sort of going backwards at around 7 to 8 per cent."I suspect those sorts of trends will continue for a while."Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 8:06amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 8:06amAustralia's home prices extend declines in August as downturn deepensAustralian home prices fell for a fifth month in August as the housing downturn spread to more cities and regional areas, data showed on Tuesday, with the risk of more policy tightening pointing to tougher conditions ahead.Figures from property consultant Cotality showed national home prices fell 0.9% in August from July, when they dropped by a downwardly revised 1.2%. That left values 3.6% below their peak, but still 2.7% higher than a year ago.Sydney and Melbourne again led the monthly decline with falls of 1.4% and 1.1%. Nearly all capital cities recorded a fall, with the heat finally coming out of boom markets Brisbane and Perth, which fell 1.0% and 0.8% respectively after double-digit gains this year.Cotality said the rate of decline in Sydney prices — down 7.1% from their peak in February — was now outpacing the earlier 2022-23 correction, when the central bank raised interest rates by 425 basis points, which sent values down 6.6%."The softer trend in values is underpinned by weaker transaction activity," said Tim Lawless, Cotality's research director, adding that sales for the past three months were down 15.5% from a year earlier."Longer selling times, larger vendor discounting and persistently low auction clearance rates all point to a buyer's market, yet buyers are lacking the confidence to transact at the moment."A sustained slump in housing turnover would have wide implications for the economy given the housing sector's extensive links to industries ranging from real estate services to tradespeople and construction.Housing credit growth has already started to slow.However, there is little relief in sight for the sector after the government's tax changes that have cooled investor demand. The Reserve Bank of Australia has raised the cash rate three times this year to 4.35%, and markets are fully pricing in another hike this year after a hot inflation print for July.- Reuters Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:57amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:57amKPMG Australia to face more fire on FridayHonestly, you could go on and on about the self-inflicted problems at KPMG Australia.So I did.There will be more on Friday, when the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services holds its next public hearing in Sydney, as it continues to chisel away at the wrongdoing inside some of Australia's most powerful firms.As ever, if you know more, contact me on ziffer.daniel@abc.net.au. No system is perfect, but for confidential information, use the options detailed on this ABC page. Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:28amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:28amLet's get goingHello, I'm Daniel Ziffer from the ABC business team, and I'll be taking you through the morning on our business, finance and economics blog.Overnight, Wall Street indices were down.The blue-chip Dow Jones of 30 mega-companies, including Boeing and Visa, was -0.7% to 53,185 points.The broader S&P 500, which covers 500 of the largest listed companies in the US, -0.3% to 7,686 points.The tech-heavy Nasdaq was -0.1% to 26,370 points.These numbers are live, and trading is continuing. We'll update you when there's a firm closing price.Our market is set to fall marginally, with the ASX 200 futures index tipping a loss of -0.2% or 22 points to 9,002 points.There's lots to get to, all of it news, analysis and information, and none of it financial advice.Let's get started!