Tom Panos exposes the dark side of Australia's housing market collapse - as Sydney couple trapped in nightmare paying two mortgages

By SARAH BROOKES - SENIOR REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 03:22, 29 July 2026 | Updated: 03:26, 29 July 2026 While thousands cheer falling house prices, Tom Panos has described a Sydney couple's nightmare after they were trapped with two mortgages, a home they can't sell and a financial crisis they never saw coming. The married couple, who are both nurses, told the veteran auctioneer they had bought a $2million property this year but are still battling to sell their old home despite slashing the asking price by 20 per cent. As a result, they said they are now stuck paying off two mortgages. 'I am in a mess now because of this Budget. I am not a greedy investor. Me and my wife [sic] are hardworking nurses. Really struggling,' they said in a message to Mr Panos. 'I bought [a] new one without selling. That was my mistake. I expected it to be bad. But I did not expect that [the] market would be dead.' Mr Panos said nervous buyers were increasingly holding back amid fears prices could fall even further after housing policies announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers in the May Budget weakened buyer confidence.  'Buyers know that they're buying good value compared to six months ago,' the veteran auctioneer told the Daily Mail.  'But they're concerned that it's going to keep dropping, so they're worried about the negative equity. What they're doing is they're hesitating.' Auctioneer Tom Panos (pictured) said nervous buyers were increasingly holding back amid fears prices could fall further  The red hot property market has quickly cooled after the May budget (file image) At the same time, sellers were becoming reluctant to list properties because they feared they would not achieve the price they wanted. 'Then you've got vendors saying, "What's the point of going onto the market? We're not going to get our price",' Mr Panos said. 'All of a sudden you've got buyers and sellers not participating in the market.' Domain's House Price Report, released on July 23, showed Sydney was leading the property market downturn.  The NSW capital saw house prices plunge 3.3 per cent to $1.73million in just three months, while Melbourne recorded its steepest quarterly decline in nearly four years, falling 3.1 per cent to $1.04million.  Across the combined capitals, house prices fell 1.4 per cent over the June quarter, wiping almost $17,500 from the median value as high interest rates, affordability pressures and buyer uncertainty continued to cool the market. Canberra also posted a 2.5 per cent decline, while Brisbane and Perth managed modest gains despite signs of slowing momentum. Mr Panos (pictured) said he was surprised by how quickly buyers and sellers abandoned the property market Sydney leads the property market downturn, with prices falling 3.3 per cent in just 12 weeks (file image)  Adelaide was the standout performer, with prices rising 4.8 per cent over the quarter, making it the only capital city where annual house price growth accelerated. Mr Panos warned the slowdown would ripple through the broader economy. 'It's not just real estate agents that don't make money. It's not just mortgage brokers that don't make money. It's not just lawyers that don't make money. It's not just stylists that don't make money,' he said. 'It's also the government because it is the biggest collector of tax revenue, and [that] comes from stamp duty.' He said the nursing couple were far from alone. 'I've got so many young people saying they were encouraged to buy a property by being seduced with a five per cent deposit scheme,' he said. 'We're going into negative equity.' Mr Panos said he understood why many younger Australians wanted house prices to fall, noting his daughters face the same affordability challenges as their generation.  Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock (pictured) has warned further increases to the cash rate may still be needed to curb inflation 'I've got a 22-year-old daughter and I've got a 21-year-old daughter, and I'm thinking about them and their lives and property prices,' he said. 'They've been used to living in the Inner West. Occasionally we go out into areas that are one hour or two hours away, and I say to them, "You could probably end up buying a property here".'  Mr Panos urged the Reserve Bank not to lift rates when it meets on August 11, warning a flood of spring listings combined with higher borrowing costs could send prices even lower.   But while Mr Panos wants rates left untouched, Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock has warned further increases may still be needed to curb inflation as the Middle East oil crisis risks pushing prices higher. Ahead of a crucial inflation data release on Wednesday, Bullock said underlying inflation had evolved broadly as expected since May. 'But it is still too high,' she said in a speech on Tuesday to the Anika Foundation Fundraising Lunch in Sydney. After three rate rises since February, the labour market had eased somewhat and demand growth had moderated, Ms Bullock said, but further easing in demand was needed to bring inflation sustainably back to target.  'A key question in the period ahead is whether the tightening in monetary policy earlier in the year is sufficient to achieve this,' she said. Nervous buyers were increasingly holding back amid fears prices could fall even further after federal housing policies announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers (pictured) in the May Budget  'The board is prepared to act as required to achieve its mandate, including by increasing the cash rate further if needed.'  Headline inflation eased to four per cent annually in March, helped by lower-than-expected oil prices and the government's 32c-a-litre fuel excise cut. But the Reserve Bank's preferred measure of underlying inflation, the trimmed mean, remained stubbornly high at 3.6 per cent. The trimmed mean is expected to edge higher again in June quarter figures due out from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. Mr Panos said the silver lining in the current situation was the opportunity for people already in the market to upgrade to bigger homes.