Australian property sellers continued to cash in on strong market conditions through the June quarter of 2025, with home resale profits hitting record highs.
Cotality’s latest Pain & Gain Report analysed almost 97,000 property resales nationwide over the three months to the end of June 2025.
The details
Cotality says 94.8% of transactions delivered a nominal gain during the June quarter of 2025, down marginally from 95% in the March quarter, but still well above the decade average of 91.5%.
While profitability slipped, the typical profit made by sellers has never been higher.
“Across all profit-making resales nationally, we saw a median nominal gain of $315,000 for sellers recorded in the June quarter,” says Cotality’s Head of Research, Eliza Owen.
“This was a record high, up from $305,000 in the previous quarter, and the decade average of $250,000.”
At the same time, losses shrank.
“The national median loss fell to $42,000, down from $44,000 in the March quarter and a high of $45,000 in the December quarter of last year,” Ms Owen says.
Despite record profits for many sellers, the number of loss-making transactions inched higher, rising to 5.2% of all resales, up from 5.0% in March.
Almost 60% of that increase came from loss-making sales on units in Sydney and Melbourne, where about 2,500 transactions saw a loss.
“Many of these losses are concentrated in markets that still haven’t returned to their peak values,” Cotality’s Eliza Owen explains.
“The top ten markets for loss-making resales accounted for a third of all losses in the quarter, compared to one quarter over the decade average.
“Some owners may also be cutting their losses as conditions improve, choosing to sell after holding for long periods,” she says.
But Ms Owen says the trend may already be reversing:
“Between June and August of this year, the likelihood of a loss-making resale has broadly reduced as national home values rose 1.3%, and fewer markets at the suburb-level recorded quarterly falls across Australia.”
Winners and losers
New South Wales dominated the list of the country’s most lucrative resale markets.
On the state’s South Coast, Kiama topped the national rankings, with vendors pocketing a median gain of $758,000 after holding their homes for nearly 12 years.
Over that period, dwelling values in the Kiama council area have surged by 120%.
In Sydney’s affluent Eastern Suburbs, Woollahra also ranked among the top 10 most profitable Local Government Areas (LGAs), with sellers recording a median gain of $575,000.
Among the capitals, Brisbane remains the star performer.
The Queensland capital delivered the highest rate of profit-making sales (99.7%) and the largest median nominal gain at $400,000.
Adelaide followed with a 99.1% profit rate, while Perth recorded 98.0%.
At the other end of the spectrum, Darwin posted the highest share of loss-making resales at 20.6%, though it also showed the biggest improvement in profitability as recent capital gains flowed through.
Melbourne came next, with 10.6% of sales incurring a loss, followed by Sydney (7.7%), Hobart (7.2%) and Canberra (6.7%).
Detached houses continue to deliver stronger returns than apartments.
In the June quarter of 2025, 97.2% of house resales were profitable, compared to 89.8% for units.
This gap was particularly visible in Sydney and Melbourne, where unit owners accounted for most of the increase in loss-making sales.
The report also found that sellers are turning properties over more quickly.
The median hold period fell slightly to 8.7 years.
Properties held for two to four years were the most common (15.3% of resales), and while this group was more likely to incur a loss, most still achieved average gains of $175,000.
Cotality’s Pain & Gain Report shows regional Australia continues to outperform capital cities, a trend sustained for more than five years.
96.4% of regional resales made a profit in the June quarter of 2025, compared with 93.9% in the capitals.
Nevertheless, Eliza Owen notes the gap is closing, with capital city markets showing renewed price momentum.
In the three months to August, city dwelling values rose 1.9%, overtaking the 1.6% gain in the regions.
Billions in gains
Cotality’s analysis underscores the resilience of the property market despite affordability challenges and global uncertainty.
All up, property owners banked $36.6 billion in resale gains during the quarter, up from $33.3 billion in March and $33.8 billion a year earlier.
However, losses also deepened slightly, with a combined $292 million written off, compared to $265 million in the March quarter.
“The rate of profitability has softened a touch, but sellers are walking away with record-high gains,” says Cotality’s Head of Research, Eliza Owen.
“Lifestyle markets remain resilient, and while some owners are still cutting losses, the broader trend is one of extraordinary strength in resale profits.”