Herding behaviour, stretched yields, and a perfect storm of rising costs have set some of Australia’s most sought-after suburbs up for a painful reset — but smart buyers could find opportunity on the other side.

More supply is coming onto the market in over-leveraged blue chip suburbs, and the investors who followed the crowd into premium postcodes could be the ones left holding the bag. That’s the assessment of Property Buzz co-host Liam Garmin, who pointed to a convergence of economic pressures he says will force a correction of up to 10% in some of Australia’s most hyped suburban markets — with southeast Queensland squarely in his sights.

Garmin’s thesis is straightforward: a significant number of investors bought into blue chip areas not on the basis of fundamentals, but because someone at a barbecue told them to. “Uncle Danny at the barbecue says he made 40% on this suburb in the last three or four years — and now in 2026 you go and buy there because you’ve ridden that wave at this point,” he said. “You’re paying one and a half to two million dollars for an asset in a city which doesn’t have the financial basis to hold it.”

I think there will be a pairing back in a lot of blue chip suburbs — up to and including 10%. — Liam Garmin, Property Buzz

The cost-of-living squeeze

The correction thesis doesn’t rest on sentiment alone. Garmin outlined a specific cost stack that he believes is about to make life very uncomfortable for investors and owner-occupiers who stretched themselves to enter premium markets. Electricity costs are forecast to rise a further 24% over the next 12 months, following a 33% increase over the prior period. The cost of commuting could double throughout the day as oil prices push through $100 USD per barrel. Grocery bills for families are rising materially. And on top of all of this, two to three further interest rate rises are widely projected by major banks — not as a consequence of geopolitical events, but because of structural excess in the domestic economy.

“People that have over-leveraged themselves might be in for a pretty rough 12 months,” said Garmin. “And I think we will see a pairing back.”

Why southeast Queensland is the most exposed

Garmin singled out southeast Queensland as the market most susceptible to a correction, while noting the same dynamic is likely playing out across most Australian capital cities to varying degrees. The region benefited from one of the most pronounced herding effects of the post-pandemic period, with investors flooding in after watching early movers achieve exceptional returns. That influx drove prices into a range that Garmin argues is disconnected from the economic fundamentals of the cities involved.

The counterintuitive case for Melbourne, by contrast, rests on an arbitrage argument. While Melbourne is frequently criticised for soft yields, even a sub-4% yield in Melbourne represents roughly double the yield available in comparable blue chip Sydney or Brisbane properties, where capital appreciation has squeezed income returns to near zero. For investors making a risk-adjusted calculation, Melbourne’s lower entry point and relatively higher income return provides a natural floor that doesn’t exist in more expensive markets.

“The risk of going into a fire sale in a sub-$700,000 property band is lower,” Garmin said. “And people who sell in the top quartile because they’ve been made redundant move down to the second quartile. The second quartile moves down to the third. By nature of property, it’s more resilient.”

A correction is not a crash — and the opportunity is real

Garmin was explicit that this is not a doom scenario for Australian property overall. The country continues to project 600,000 new arrivals this year, while insolvencies in the building and construction industry are reducing the pipeline of new supply. Once the current period of financial pressure resolves — whether through rate cuts, geopolitical stabilisation, or a natural absorption of excess — the structural demand for housing remains intact.

The message for investors watching from the sidelines: the correction, when it comes, is the entry point. “There will be opportunities to get in at very reasonable, reset market values,” said Garmin. “If you’re a smart buyer, I would not be scared. My wife and I are already planning our next purchase.”

The key discipline is avoiding the same trap that created the vulnerability in the first place — buying because of social proof rather than fundamentals. Markets that ran hot on sentiment will reset on sentiment. Markets with genuine economic underpinnings will hold.