Traditionally, September is a weak month for ASX shares, but that wasn't the case this year, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rising strongly by 2.2%.
Meantime, the national median dwelling value increased for a 20th consecutive month, by 0.4%, during the first month of the traditionally busy Spring season, according to the latest CoreLogic data.
Therefore, if we compare shares vs. property, ASX shares outdid bricks and mortar last month.
However, there is currently a lot of performance diversity across Australia's property market.
The top-performing capital city property market — Perth — delivered 1.6% median house price growth in September, while Melbourne, Hobart, and Canberra all recorded a 0.2% fall in median house prices.
Shares vs. property price performance in September
Many ASX stocks outperformed the benchmark considerably during September.
The No. 1 ASX 200 share for price growth in September was miner Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN).
The iron ore and lithium producer's stock rose by 29.61% over the month. On Tuesday, Mineral Resources' share price closed at $51.61, down 0.83%.
In property, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane were once again the strongest capital city markets.
Median house prices lifted by 1.6% to a median of $830,965 in Perth. There was a 1.3% increase in Adelaide to a median of $856,856, and a 0.8% bump in Brisbane to a median of $973,534.
Regional house prices lifted most in the Northern Territory (1.6%), Western Australia (1.5%) and South Australia (1.1%).
Tim Lawless, CoreLogic's research director, said momentum was leaving the market as the number of listings increased.
According to CoreLogic data, the flow of new listings coming onto the market nationally was 3.2% higher year-over-year in September. Stock for sale is now 8.8% above the previous five-year average.
Lawless said:
The rise in real estate inventory is a seasonal trend, with spring and early summer one of the busiest periods of the year for selling. However, the flow of freshly advertised housing stock hasn't been this high at this time of the year since 2021.
Auction clearance rates have fallen to the low 60% range across the capital cities. This is still considered a healthy rate of sale, but it's 4% below the decade average, which indicates the market is losing steam.
The median number of days on market for private treaty sales also rose from 29 days in the June quarter to 32 days in the September quarter.
CoreLogic says affordability constraints and reduced borrowing capacity due to higher interest rates continue to support stronger price growth in the cheaper capital cities and regional markets.
Let's take a look at the numbers.
Shares vs. property: Here are the numbers for September
| Property market | Median house price | Price growth last month | 12-month price growth |
| Sydney | $1,473,775 | 0.1% | 4.9% |
| Melbourne | $925,762 | (0.2%) | (1.3%) |
| Brisbane | $973,534 | 0.8% | 13.5% |
| Adelaide | $856,856 | 1.3% | 14.4% |
| Perth | $830,965 | 1.6% | 24% |
| Hobart | $692,504 | (0.2%) | (1.6%) |
| Darwin | $592,507 | 0.1% | 3.4% |
| Canberra | $966,684 | (0.2%) | 1.7% |
| Regional New South Wales | $769,593 | 0.2% | 3.5% |
| Regional Victoria | $594,591 | (0.1%) | (1.4%) |
| Regional Queensland | $675,321 | 0.7% | 12.1% |
| Regional South Australia | $446,337 | 1.1% | 10.8% |
| Regional Western Australia | $547,602 | 1.5% | 19.4% |
| Regional Tasmania | $538,052 | (0.3%) | 1.4% |
| Regional Northern Territory | $438,970 | 1.6% | (6.6%) |
Top 5 risers of the ASX 200 last month
The ASX 200 recorded 2.2% growth in September, and these 5 ASX 200 shares were the best-performing stocks.
| ASX 200 share | Share price growth |
| Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) | 29.61% |
| Siteminder Ltd (ASX: SDR) | 28.98% |
| Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR) | 25.61% |
| West African Resources Ltd (ASX: WAF) | 21.68% |
| Centuria Capital Group (ASX: CNI) | 24.04% |
Why did the Mineral Resources share price soar 30% higher?
Mineral Resources issued three price-sensitive announcements last month.
On 10 September, the miner announced it had received approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board to proceed with the sale of a 49% interest in its Onslow Iron haul road.
The company sold the stake to investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP). On 25 September, Mineral Resources announced the completion of the sale.
Mineral Resources also provided a business update and informed investors of its progress in reducing capital and operational costs.
Management said it had identified approximately $180 million of FY25 capital expenditure savings and $120 million of FY25 operational cost savings.
The third piece of news came on 16 September, when Mineral Resources announced maiden resource estimates for the Lockyer Gas Project and the Erregulla Oil Project in Western Australia.
The company also benefited from news of stimulus measures in China, which boosted most ASX mining stocks.
