What the number means
The scale runs from zero to ten, but higher does not always mean better. Higher rate pressure means more upward borrowing-cost signals; higher rental pressure means more signs of rising rental costs. Higher buyer and household-comfort readings lean toward easier conditions. Busier market activity is not good or bad for everyone. Read the endpoint labels and named perspective, not just the colour or score.
What we measure
- Market activity: whether housing activity is picking up or slowing.
- Buyer market conditions: house prices, mortgage costs and building plans, not personal affordability. From 18 October 2026, the unsupported affordability component is excluded. The remaining weights are normalised: prices 37.5%, mortgage costs 43.75%, building plans 18.75%. Earlier readings retain the previous model; the change from 5.6 to 6.2 is a model correction, not a market movement.
- Repayment breathing room: whether rates, inflation, and jobs are creating more pressure.
- Rate pressure: whether current signals are putting upward or downward pressure on rates.
- Rental pressure: whether rents and demand are putting more pressure on households.
- New-home supply: whether building intentions are keeping up with demand.
How much should you trust it?
Every reading carries an evidence label. Official observations are stronger than a proxy assembled from related indicators. A placeholder means the required source is not connected yet and the reading should not be treated as publishable evidence.
The page also shows freshness and source dependencies. A recent number can still be weak if the underlying measure is indirect, and an older official number can still be useful context if its period is clearly shown.
What it cannot tell you
- It cannot tell you whether a lender will approve an application.
- It cannot predict mortgage rates, house prices, rent, returns, or the best time to act.
- It cannot replace personal budgeting, lender policy, or regulated financial advice.
- It does not describe every suburb, borrower, property, or lender equally well.
Current status
The gauges are currently an internal calibration surface. The remaining work includes replacing synthetic history, connecting missing regional and rental data, testing the weights against observed changes, and completing a compliance review before a public composite score is released.