$92,000 Wiped From the Family Home as Older Australians Get TRAPPED in a Falling Market

Australian home values have fallen for a fifth straight month, and about $92,000 has come off the typical Sydney home since February. This documentary follows one number through to the people it lands on. Cotality's August index recorded a 0.9 per cent national fall, taking values 3.6 per cent below the March record, with 93 per cent of capital city suburbs now falling against 45.8 per cent in autumn. Sydney is 7.1 per cent below its February peak on a median of $1.2 million. Research director Tim Lawless describes an easing that began at the top of the market and has become a general softening. Sales volumes are running 15.5 per cent below a year ago, the median vendor discount has widened to 3.8 per cent, and ANZ economists now forecast a 14.5 per cent peak-to-trough fall in Sydney. If you own the home you plan to retire on, this is not a market story. Older owners hold more of their wealth in one house than any other group and have the least time to wait a downturn out. We take the four ways out of a house you can no longer manage, one at a time — sell, downsize, borrow against it, or wait — and show what actually happens when you try each one, including what the age pension assets test does to the money once the house is sold, and what an aged care deposit now costs. 📚 SOURCES CITED IN THIS VIDEO ABC News — Cotality August Home Value Index, 93% of suburbs falling (2026): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-0... Cotality — Monthly Housing Chart Pack, housing at 56.8% of household wealth (2026): https://www.cotality.com/au/insights/... ABC News — Cotality downturn modelling and the ANZ peak-to-trough forecast (2026): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-1... Homesafe Wealth Release — how sale proceeds cut the age pension (2026): https://www.homesafe.com.au/news/most... Department of Health, Disability and Ageing — refundable accommodation deposits: https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/re... Seniors First — Over-55 Downsizing Confidence Poll, 0.6% would sell and rent (2026): https://seniorsfirst.com.au/research-... Moneysmart, ASIC — downsizer super contribution rules for over-55s (2026): https://moneysmart.gov.au/manage-your... SuperGuide — age pension assets test thresholds and taper, July 2026: https://www.superguide.com.au/in-reti... Cotality — Pain & Gain report, resale profit and loss (2026): https://www.cotality.com/au/resources... ABC News — RBA holds the cash rate with the door open to more rises (2026): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-1... ABC News — unemployment reaches 4.5 per cent, highest since the pandemic (2026): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-2... ABC News — 2026 Budget changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-1... 📺 ABOUT THIS CHANNEL AU Today — documentary investigations into the forces shaping Australia: housing, cost of living, the economy, and the decisions behind them. How it broke, who decided, what happens next. Every video is anchored to public data, public records, and public people. No interviews. No personal advice. No agendas. New documentary every day. ⚠️ FAIR USE NOTICE This video contains brief excerpts of news broadcasts used for the purpose of criticism, commentary, and reporting on matters of public interest. Such use qualifies as fair use under Section 107 of the Australian Copyright Act 1968 and corresponding international provisions.