If you're planning to sell, allow three to six months from when you start getting ready to settlement day, when the buyer pays the balance, and the sale is completed. That's our rough estimate, built from the stages below. A slow sale or a longer settlement can stretch it further.

Most of that time goes on finding a buyer and then waiting for settlement. Nationally, homes took a median of 41 days to sell in the three months to September 2026, up from 26 days a year earlier, according to property data company Cotality. After that, you'll usually wait another 30 to 90 days for settlement.

How long does each stage take?

To sketch your own timeline, add your weeks of preparation, the median for your area from the table further down, and your state's usual settlement period.

Three of these stages run alongside others, so they don't add to your total. Your contract is prepared while you get ready, and your marketing campaign runs within your days on market. The cooling-off period (the few days a buyer has to pull out after signing) runs during settlement.

An example. Say you're selling your home in Sydney by private sale, and assume no gaps or delays. You spend four weeks getting ready, choosing an agent and having your contract prepared.

After 46 days on the market, Sydney's median in the three months to September 2026, you find a buyer and exchange contracts. That's when the signed contracts are swapped, and you're bound to the sale, although the buyer may still have a few days' cooling-off.

With the standard 42-day settlement, that's 116 days, or about four months, from starting to prepare to settlement day. About half of Sydney homes took longer than 46 days to sell. If yours takes longer, that could add weeks to your timeline, and a longer settlement adds more.

If you're working back from a move date or the start of a school term, our guide to the best time of year to sell shows how to plan around the calendar. Our selling timeline sets out what to do in the months before you list.

What's the average time to sell a house in Australia?

Nationally, the median time to sell was 41 days in the three months to September 2026, counting houses and units together. It was 39 days in the capital cities and 43 days in regional areas. The median is the middle sale, so about half sold faster and about half took longer.

Cotality counts days on market from when a home is first listed to when it sells. Other sites and agents may work it out differently, so if you compare figures, check how each one was measured.

Source: Cotality, Monthly Housing Chart Pack, October 2026. Figures cover all dwellings, houses and units together.

If you're selling outside a capital, allow longer. In every state and the NT, regional homes took longer to sell than homes in the capital, in both years. In Queensland and WA, though, the gap in the latest figures was only a day.

These figures change every month, so treat them as a guide to your market rather than a forecast for your home. A local agent can tell you how long similar homes near you have taken to sell.

What makes a sale faster or slower?

How long you wait depends a lot on the market you're selling into. Cotality linked the slowdown in 2026 to higher interest rates, which cut what buyers can borrow. Over the year, the number of homes for sale rose while sales fell.

If you're weighing up whether to list now, see our guide on whether to sell now or wait.

You can't control the market, but you can avoid adding weeks to your sale:

• Set a realistic price. A home priced above recent sales of similar homes may take longer to attract offers. Look at what comparable homes have sold for in your suburb, and ask each agent for the evidence behind their price estimate.
• Get the paperwork started early. Ask a conveyancer or solicitor (who handles the legal side) to prepare your contract while you get ready. In NSW, it must be ready before your home is advertised. In the ACT, the documents the law requires (such as a recent building report for a house) must be available whenever a buyer can make an offer.
• Prepare the home before it's listed. Finish repairs, clean thoroughly and consider styling, so the photos show it at its best (see our tips on preparing your property for the market).
• Choose an agent who knows your area. Ask each one how long homes like yours have taken to sell nearby, and how they'd market it.
• Think about how you'll sell. An auction gives buyers a set date to compete. But across the capital cities, the clearance rate (the share of auctions that sell) was 48.3 per cent over the four weeks to early October 2026, Cotality said. If yours passes in (doesn't sell on the day), you can keep negotiating with interested buyers.
• Be flexible on settlement. If your own move allows it, offering the settlement date a buyer wants can make your home easier to sell.

If your home has been on the market well past your area's median, it may be time to review your price and marketing with your agent. Our guide on what to do when your property won't sell covers the options.

How long are cooling-off and settlement in your state?

As the seller, you have no cooling-off period: you're bound once the contract is made, which in NSW is at exchange. In a private sale, though, most states give the buyer a cooling-off period after the contract is signed.

The table shows the usual periods for a private sale of an existing home. When each one starts depends on your state and your contract.

No state or territory law gives a buyer a cooling-off period at auction. Where your state or territory has a cooling-off period, auctions aren't the only exception. The full rules are in our guide to auctions and private sales.

The settlement date is set in your contract, and you can negotiate it with the buyer, who may ask for something in return. What happens on the day is in our guide to understanding settlement, and our guide to selling your home walks through the steps of a sale.

Frequently asked questions

Where these figures come from

Days on market: Cotality's Monthly Housing Chart Pack for October 2026, covering the three months to September 2026. The auction clearance rate comes from the same report. Cotality measures days on market from the first listing date to the sale date.

Campaign: an older ACT Government guide for buyers and sellers (Reality Check) and Consumer Affairs Victoria's guide to selling property by auction, which also sets out the reserve price rule.

Cooling-off and settlement: each state and territory's laws, government guides and standard contracts, read in October 2026. We found no official settlement period for Tasmania.

The whole timeline of three to six months is our estimate, made by adding these stages together. It isn't a measured figure.