’Struggling to pay my mortgage’: What NZ’s housing crash signals for Australia

As Australia’s housing market continues to experience a notable downturn, stories from across the ditch are emerging that could raise alarm bells for future financial pain.

The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) noted lower property prices resulted in a $34.1 billion fall, or 0.3 per cent drop, to $12.7 trillion in the June 2026 quarter. 

Coupled with the price pullbacks, there has been a muted start to the spring auction season, with just 1,462 homes in the opening week – a 31.1 per cent drop compared with the same period last year. 

The current financial landscape doesn’t paint a rosy picture. However, local conditions have not reached the severity seen across the Tasman.

New Zealand is living through its longest and deepest property downturn in almost four decades.

The extent of the crash has not only left house hunters and homeowners struggling, it has also left real estate agents turning to side hustles to make ends meet.

OneRoof reports agents are turning to delivering Uber Eats, working as concierges and even selling personal possessions.

“It’s really, really tough. Even people who have been in the market 30 years are having trouble,” Ray White Glenfield agent Kristina Walsh said.

Walsh, who said she had her best year in the 12 months to June, noted she has not sold a single house since then.

“I thought about selling pictures of my feet… for about five minutes,” she said.

“If I don’t make a sale soon, I might have to call it quits. I’m struggling to pay my mortgage.”

The latest ASB New Zealand House Price Outlook suggests the country’s house price of 2021 is unlikely to be reached again until late 2029.

New Zealand often acts as a leading economic bellwether for Australia.

“The most useful thing Australia can borrow from New Zealand is not a price forecast… The useful thing is a set of questions New Zealand has been forced to answer first,” Robbie Bhullar, area specialist, Ray White Austar Realty said.

Bhullar said Australia “sits at the opposite end of the same arc”. 

He noted national dwelling values fell 0.4 per cent in June 2026, the largest monthly drop in three and a half years, with revised figures showing the market peaked in March. 

“By mid-July the decline had steepened, with Cotality’s index showing values down roughly 0.9 per cent over the month to 17 July at the five-city level, led by Sydney and Melbourne. Auction clearance rates tell the same story, sitting below 50 per cent nationally for seven straight weeks,” he said. 

“This is a market that has clearly turned, but only just.”