The report found that 94.8% of sellers made a profit, marking a series high, but also highlighted a rise in loss-making sales, with median losses increasing to $45,000, up from $40,000 in the previous quarter.
CoreLogic’s Head of Research, Eliza Owen, explained that while property profitability remains strong, a slight decline in national home values at the end of 2024 contributed to an increase in loss-making sales.
“This subtle increase in loss-making sales makes sense because any decline in real estate values increases the chance of loss-making sales occurring,” Ms Owen said.
Despite this, she expects profitability to recover in 2025, particularly as cash rate easing is anticipated.
Sydney and Melbourne units lead loss-making sales
Sydney and Melbourne were responsible for 60.6% of loss-making resales, despite only accounting for 34.2% of total resales.
Units were the biggest contributors to losses, with 47.2% of loss-making sales coming from apartments. Melbourne’s Inner region recorded 734 unit resales at a loss, followed by Sydney-Parramatta (256) and Sydney-Ryde (163).
Ms Owen attributed this to the off-the-plan apartment boom of the early-to-mid 2010s, combined with tighter lending conditions.
“The result has been much stronger growth in houses nationally in the past decade than units, at 80.5% and 38.5%, respectively,” she said.
Brisbane leads profit-making markets
Brisbane had the highest rate of profitable resales, with 99.6% of properties selling for a gain. Adelaide (99.1%) and Perth (97.4%) followed as the strongest capital city markets.
Sydney (92.5%) and Melbourne (89.2%) saw lower rates of profitable sales, with Melbourne and Darwin being the only capitals where fewer than 90% of properties made a gain.
Short-term property holds were also a factor in loss-making sales, with 26.5% of loss-making sales occurring within two to four years of purchase.
Melbourne saw the highest number of these short-term loss-making resales, with 6.7% concentrated in Melbourne’s Inner region.
Despite the rise in losses, the total nominal resale profit climbed to $35.6 billion, up from $35.0 billion in the previous quarter.
Ms Owen said that while the market faces short-term fluctuations, Australian real estate continues to deliver strong long-term profitability.
Fast facts:
- 94.8% of sellers made a nominal profit in the December 2024 quarter, with a median profit of $306,000. This was a series high for the median nominal gain measure, with Australians continuing to see record gains from home sales.
- The median nominal gain was a record high $306,000 in the quarter, and the total nominal resale profit was $35.6 billion.
- The median nominal loss was -$45,000, and the total nominal resale loss was $302 million.
- Brisbane claimed the top-spot for profit-making resales in Australia, with almost all resales making a nominal gain (99.6%).
- Melbourne was one of two capital cities (alongside Darwin) that had a profit-making sales rate of less than 90% in the December quarter.
- Houses were far less likely to see a loss, with only 3.0% of houses selling for less than the previous price.
- Units had a loss-making sales rate of 10.1% in the quarter, up from 9.3% in the previous quarter.
