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With Perth's property prices falling, job loss is the real risk

Read the original at ABC News (AU) ↗
Cite

Wynne, E., & Mitsopoulos, N. (2026, November 6). With Perth's property prices falling, job loss is the real risk. ABC News (AU). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-06/perth-money-forum-panel-warns-on-job-losses-amid-mortgage-woes/107355638

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

ABC News (AU) · collected 2026-11-06 · by Emma Wynne, Nadia Mitsopoulos

Quick Summary

Perth's median property values have dropped by 5.7% in the past three months, but are still 68% higher than they were in 2021. Financial experts at a forum hosted by 102.5 ABC Perth emphasized that job loss is a greater risk for mortgage holders than negative equity, as negative equity only becomes problematic if borrowers cannot continue making repayments. Property analyst Gavin Hegney predicts the downturn may last another ten percent drop in property values before stabilizing around mid-next year.
Written by AI on 2026-11-06, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Perth's median property values have fallen by 5.7% over the past three months, but remain 68% higher than they were five years ago, according to financial experts at a forum hosted by 102.5 ABC Perth. Property valuer Gavin Hegney noted that despite this decline, homeowners who purchased property more than five years ago still have significant gains. The bigger risk for mortgage holders is losing their job rather than facing negative equity. Financial experts predict the market downturn could last another 12 to 18 months before recovering.

Written for “Perth Property Prices Falling” on 2026-11-06, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 133417 · logged 2026-11-06

Story

📰 Perth Property Prices Falling
Economy/Business · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 1 of 33 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles discuss different time periods and contexts related to property prices in Perth, not the same specific incident.”
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 7 of 51 claims Outlet record 67/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the Australian property market downturn, with Article A providing a national overview and Article B focusing specifically on Perth's situation.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 1 of 34 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Australia's property market decline, with Article A covering national trends and Article B focusing specifically on Perth.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 5 of 71 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Australia's housing market impact, with Article A focusing on emotional distress during property sales and Article B specifically addressing job loss risks in Perth.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 3 of 18 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the housing market and mortgage risks in Perth, not a single specific incident.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 0 of 5 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the housing market and economic conditions in Australia but do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 4 of 28 claims Outlet record 67/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the property market decline in Perth and do not describe the same specific incident or time.”
The Guardian
Hedges 2 of 20 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the housing market decline; Article A covers national trends over seven months, while Article B focuses on Perth's property prices and a recent forum discussion.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
67/100
ABC News (AU)'s corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

ABC News (AU) · 5029 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Emma Wynne
7 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 "Even though the market's gone down and will go down, it'll only probably take away 12 to 18 months of our gains in the last part of the cycle, and we had a boom for five years," Mr Hegney told the forum.
🔮 But before the crowd, who had reserved eating tickets to the event, could conduct a taste test, there was a competition to run.
🔮 Electrify Fremantle's Wilf Johnston is one of the organisers of the Electric Noodle Bar and said the event, which is running as part of Fremantle Design Week, was about showing, rather than telling, people how living without gas could work.
🔮 Peter Quinlan said judges already use careful discretion when considering 'good character' references. What's next? The legislation to ban character references has yet to be drafted and will be subject to consultation.
🔮 Minister says defence land sell-off in prime Perth suburbs will not be clean sweep for developers In short: Defence Minister Richard Marles says the planned sale of Perth's Irwin and Leeuwin barracks will not see the sites bulldozed for housing. Both sites are in desirable residential areas but are protected by heritage overlays, which will limit how far they can be developed. What's next? The sites will be remediated and prepared before they are transferred to the department of finance to be sold.
🔮 In 2024, the long-running Perth writers' festival announced it would be taking a break in 2025, coming back with a refreshed event in early 2026.
Also by Emma Wynne
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 7 articles by Emma Wynne →
Nadia Mitsopoulos
3 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 "Even though the market's gone down and will go down, it'll only probably take away 12 to 18 months of our gains in the last part of the cycle, and we had a boom for five years," Mr Hegney told the forum.
🔮 In an interview with the ABC, Tony Buti said many students were receiving a "sub-par" education, but did not clarify how a merger would resolve those issues.
🔮 In short: Conflicting advice over whether he could or could not legally access his outback tenement left Goldfields prospector Dale Richardson stranded for almost a month.
Also by Nadia Mitsopoulos
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

102.5 ABC Perth Canva Covid Perth Woodside

Subjects

Perth GPE · 4× Hegney PERSON · 3× Bruining PERSON · 2× Gavin Hegney PERSON · 2× 102.5 ABC Perth ORG · 1× Canva ORG · 1× Covid ORG · 1× George PERSON · 1× Nick Bruining PERSON · 1× Phil George PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Property valuer and analyst Gavin Hegney said while property values had begun to fall, with Perth experiencing a 5.7 per cent drop over the past three months, people who bought property five or more years ago had still recorded huge gains.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-06
🔮 "Even though the market's gone down and will go down, it'll only probably take away 12 to 18 months of our gains in the last part of the cycle, and we had a boom for five years," Mr Hegney told the forum.
2026-11-06 · ABC News (AU)
With Perth's property prices falling, job loss is the real risk · assertive framing

Claims (23 extracted, 2 hedged)

In short: Perth's median property values have fallen 5.7 per cent in three months, but are still 68 per cent higher than 2021. asserted
values → fall → 2021
Financial experts say the bigger risk for mortgage holders is losing their job, not negative equity. asserted
risk → say → job
Property analyst Gavin Hegney believes the market is about halfway through its downturn. asserted
market → believe → downturn
While many Perth home owners are facing higher mortgage repayments combined with increased cost-of-living pressure, many still have still benefited from years of property value growth in Perth. asserted
many → face → Perth
That was the message from financial experts at a forum hosted by 102.5 ABC Perth on tackling cost-of-living pressures. asserted
That → host → pressures
Property valuer and analyst Gavin Hegney said while property values had begun to fall, with Perth experiencing a 5.7 per cent drop over the past three months, people who bought property five or more years ago had still recorded huge gains. asserted
who → say → gains
That's because while data shows the city's median dwelling value has fallen to $942,018, that is still 68 per cent higher than it was five years ago. asserted
it → show → 942,018
"Even though the market's gone down and will go down, it'll only probably take away 12 to 18 months of our gains in the last part of the cycle, and we had a boom for five years," Mr Hegney told the forum. asserted
Hegney → go → forum
Fellow panellist and private wealth adviser Phil George agreed, pointing out the years of strong gains had allowed many borrowers to build up large amounts of equity in their homes. asserted
borrowers → agree → homes
"I think it's really only been the last six months that we've seen depletion in housing prices," Mr George said. " asserted
George → think → prices
It's going to be tough for those who are new entrants [to the market], but let's not forget that a lot of people, even just over the last three, four, five years, have built up quite strong equity in their homes." asserted
lot → go → homes
Mr Hegney said he believed the market was about halfway through its downturn, with perhaps another 10 per cent fall in values still to come, and predicted a turnaround around the middle of next year. Job loss riskier than negative equity The panellists said while recent buyers with large loans may find themselves in negative equity — where their home is valued at less than their loan — that would only be a real problem if they couldn't continue to make repayments. uncertain
they → say → repayments
"Negative equity is not a problem unless you have to sell," Mr Hegney said. asserted
Hegney → have → ?
The real risk, according to independent financial planner Nick Bruining, was for people who lost their income entirely. uncertain
who → accord → income
The national unemployment rate was 4.7 per cent for September, the highest level since Covid, with a number of employers, including Canva, Woodside and NAB, announcing plans to slash jobs in recent weeks. asserted
number → include → weeks
"We've had some really bad news in the last couple of days," Mr Bruining said. " asserted
Bruining → have → days
You can often manage your mortgage payment [by working] overtime and cutting back. asserted
You → manage → overtime
"But if you lose your job, all bets are off. asserted
bets → lose → job
It's a real crisis if you're a mortgage holder or have debt." asserted
you → have → debt
Mr Bruining said people looking for interest rate relief would be unlikely to see rates of 2 or 3 per cent again anytime soon, adding he thought current rates were probably likely to remain. asserted
rates → say → cent
"It's generally regarded that interest rates have been kept artificially low since the global financial crisis in 2008," he said. asserted
he → regard → 2008
"What we're seeing is a return to normal. asserted
seeing → see → normal
"Get used to the 6 and 7 [per cent rates], because that's probably where it's going to settle down." asserted
it → get → rates
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