The numbers are starting to argue with each other: what August 2026 tells us about Perth’s northern suburbs
The numbers are starting to argue with each other. 😂
Which, to be fair, feels about right for the Perth property market at the moment.
Look at the September 2025 to August 2026 figures and you could be forgiven for thinking buyers are still throwing themselves at the front door.
Trigg’s median house price is now $2.9 million, up 26.1% over 12 months. Hillarys is up 23.2%. Kingsley is up 25.2%. Carine has grown 21.4% and Duncraig 15.4%.
Those are big numbers.
But they tell us where the market has been.
What is happening right now tells us something slightly different.
So, is the Perth property market slowing?
Yes, conditions are becoming more balanced - but that doesn’t mean every suburb or every home is falling in value.
At the end of August 2026, Perth had 7,335 properties advertised for sale, according to REIWA. That was 146.1% more than at the end of August 2025.
Homes are also taking longer to sell. Perth houses sold in a median of 23 days in August, compared with around 11 days a year earlier.
And while Perth’s annual median house price still rose to $960,000, REIWA has specifically cautioned that annual medians can be slow to show a change in market direction. Its more recent quarterly figures have already recorded price declines across many Perth suburbs.
In other words:
The annual figures still look very strong.
The current market is becoming much more selective.
What are house prices doing across Perth’s northern suburbs?
For houses, realestate.com.au reported the following for the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026:
Trigg
Median: $2,900,000
12-month growth: 26.1%
Hillarys
Median: $1,750,000
12-month growth: 23.2%
Kingsley
Median: $1,276,500
12-month growth: 25.2%
Carine
Median: $1,700,000
12-month growth: 21.4%
Duncraig
Median: $1,500,500
12-month growth: 15.4%
Scarborough
Median: $1,500,000
12-month growth: 14.5%
Karrinyup
Median: $1,700,000
12-month growth: 11.8%
Marmion
Median: $2,375,000
12-month growth: 8.0%
There is obviously no single story in those numbers.
And that’s the interesting bit.
Buyers have something they haven’t had for a while: choice
For much of Perth’s recent market, buyers had very little room to hesitate.
Low stock meant that if the right home appeared, you moved. Quickly.
That pressure has eased.
There are now substantially more properties competing for buyers’ attention and borrowing conditions are tighter. The RBA cash rate was 4.35% in August 2026, following three increases earlier in the year, and the RBA says those increases have flowed through to higher lending rates and mortgage repayments.
So buyers can stop.
Compare.
Do the maths.
Go back for another inspection.
And, occasionally, decide they don’t love the beige tiles enough to spend another $180,000 replacing them.
In other words, buyers have been given permission to be fussy again.
Is this an expensive-versus-affordable market?
At first glance, you could make that argument.
When a property has a two or a three at the front of the price, the pool of buyers is naturally smaller and the financial commitment is significant. Trigg and Marmion do not suddenly stop being incredibly desirable places to live, but buyers at that level need to feel very sure about what they are buying.
Then there are established family suburbs such as Kingsley, Carine, Duncraig and Karrinyup, where buyers can often see a very clear proposition: location, schools, space, amenity and a home that can work for the next stage of family life.
But we don’t think “prestige is slowing and affordable is booming” tells the whole story.
We are seeing hesitation at different price points.
Which leads us to another theory.
Maybe the market is becoming less forgiving of uncertainty
This is the shift we are watching most closely.
A buyer might stretch for a home when everything about it feels right.
They are less inclined to stretch when they are also being asked to:
renovate immediately
overlook an awkward layout
guess what improvements might cost
compromise heavily on location
compete without understanding value
or pay tomorrow’s price for a home that doesn’t quite justify it today.
When buyers had almost nothing to choose from, they tolerated more of those compromises.
Now they don’t necessarily have to.
That is why two seemingly similar homes in the same suburb can have very different campaigns.
The issue may not be price alone. It may be certainty.
Does the home make sense?
Does the price make sense?
Can the buyer clearly see themselves living there?
And if you are asking them to stretch, have you given them a compelling enough reason to do it?
What does this mean if you’re selling in Trigg, Karrinyup, Carine or Perth’s northern suburbs?
It doesn’t mean good homes have suddenly become difficult to sell.
Far from it.
There is still significant buyer demand across Perth’s northern coastal and established family suburbs.
But the days of assuming that the market will do all the heavy lifting for you may be changing.
For sellers, we think three things matter more now.
1. Price for the market you are entering, not the market you remember
The sale down the road six months ago is useful information.
It isn’t the whole answer.
We need to look at what buyers can choose from right now, what has recently sold, what has failed to sell and how your property compares.
2. Remove unnecessary reasons for buyers to hesitate
This doesn’t mean renovating the entire house before you sell.
Often it means identifying the relatively small things that make buyers start mentally deducting money from their offer.
Presentation, maintenance, styling, photography and the way the home is positioned all help reduce that uncertainty.
3. Give buyers a clear reason to choose your home
“Four bedrooms, two bathrooms and close to shops” is information.
It is not necessarily a reason to care.
Understanding who the likely buyer is, what stage of life they are in and what the property gives them is becoming increasingly important.
Because when buyers have more choice, being suitable isn't quite the same thing as being wanted.
Should Perth homeowners wait to sell?
There is no blanket answer.
Strong annual growth does not mean every property should be rushed onto the market.
But increasing listings do not automatically mean sellers should retreat either.
The right decision depends on the individual home, suburb, competing stock, your next move and what you need the sale to achieve.
What we would say is this:
Don’t make the decision from the headline growth percentage alone.
That percentage is the rear-view mirror.
We’re much more interested in what is happening through the windscreen.
Perth property market update: August 2026 at a glance
Are Perth property prices still higher than a year ago?
Yes. Perth’s annual median house price remained substantially higher in August 2026, and many northern suburbs recorded double-digit annual growth.
Are buyers becoming more cautious?
Yes. Perth has significantly more property for sale than it did a year ago, homes are taking longer to sell and higher borrowing costs are affecting purchasing power.
Does that mean Perth is now a buyer’s market?
Not necessarily. Conditions are becoming more balanced, but demand, supply and buyer behaviour vary considerably between suburbs and individual properties.
What matters most for sellers now?
Accurate positioning, preparation, pricing and understanding exactly which buyers are most likely to see value in the home.
Bec Giles and Rosanne Contrusceri are residential real estate agents with Ray White North Quays, helping homeowners across Trigg, Karrinyup, Carine, Hamersley, Duncraig, Scarborough and surrounding northern Perth suburbs.
Data sources:realestate.com.au suburb market insights, September 2025–August 2026; REIWA Perth market data, August 2026; Reserve Bank of Australia, August 2026. Median prices are indicative market data and may change as additional sales settle.