How to Read a CoreLogic Property Report

When you are preparing to buy a property in Australia, data is your best defence against overpaying. CoreLogic — now rebranded as Cotality — is the largest property data provider in Australia and New Zealand, and its reports underpin decisions made by banks, mortgage brokers, valuers, real estate agents, and conveyancers every single day. The same data that lenders use to approve your loan can also help you work out whether the asking price is reasonable.

The catch is that CoreLogic is primarily a business-to-business (B2B) data provider. Most everyday buyers cannot simply log in and run their own reports. Instead, you typically access CoreLogic data through an intermediary: your bank, mortgage broker, conveyancer, or a broker-linked portal. This guide explains what is inside a CoreLogic property report, how to get one, and — most importantly — how to read it so you can make a better-informed purchase decision.

What Is CoreLogic and Who Uses It?

CoreLogic (trading in Australia as RP Data Pty Ltd, now Cotality) was founded in the United States and operates the RP Data platform across Australia and New Zealand. The company maintains records on more than ten million Australian residential properties, drawing on data from state and territory land titles offices, valuers-general, council records, listing portals, and proprietary transaction databases. In March 2025, the company rebranded globally to Cotality — but RP Data remains the product name that most Australian industry professionals recognise and use.

In Australia, CoreLogic data is used across the property lifecycle:

• Banks and lenders use it to assess security values when approving home loans.
• Mortgage brokers pull property reports to help clients understand market value before they make an offer.
• Licensed valuers use RP Data comparable sales to support formal valuation reports.
• Real estate agents generate Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) reports for vendor appraisals.
• Conveyancers and solicitors access title and ownership data during the due diligence process.
• Property investors subscribe directly via RP Data's tiered plans to monitor portfolios and identify opportunities.

For buyers, CoreLogic data is most commonly accessed as a free report through a bank portal or broker, or purchased as a one-off report via a third-party reseller. It is not a consumer-facing product in the same way that realestate.com.au or Domain are.

Types of CoreLogic Reports Available in Australia

CoreLogic offers several distinct report types through the RP Data platform. The ones most relevant to property buyers are:

Property Profile Report

The Property Profile Report (sometimes called a Property Value Report) is the most widely accessed report for buyers. It is a PDF document that reproduces key property details, photos, an automated estimated value range, recent sales history, comparable sales in the area, and a suburb market snapshot. This is the report that banks such as ANZ and NAB, and portals such as Police Credit Union, deliver for free or at low cost.

IntelliVal Automated Valuation Model (AVM)

The IntelliVal AVM is a more targeted analytical product that delivers a point estimate of market value with a confidence score and a high/low price range. It is used by lenders for preliminary loan assessments and by brokers when advising clients on offer strategy. The IntelliVal is powered by mathematical and statistical modelling applied to CoreLogic's historical sales database.

Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)

A CMA is a professional report typically prepared by a real estate agent using the RP Data platform. It identifies comparable sold properties and active listings to support a price appraisal for a vendor or a buyer's offer decision. CMAs are not formal valuations — they are market evidence summaries.

RP Data Professional Subscription

Property professionals (agents, investors, analysts) can subscribe to RP Data directly through Cotality on tiered plans — from a Lite plan for individual investors through to Pro plans for larger agencies. Subscribers get full access to property searches, ownership history, building consent records, rental data, suburb statistics, and the ability to run unlimited property reports.

How to Get Access to a CoreLogic Report

Because CoreLogic is primarily a B2B platform, most buyers access its data through one of several channels:

Through Your Bank

Several Australian banks provide free CoreLogic property reports to customers (and sometimes the general public) via web portals. ANZ's Property Profile portal, NAB's Property Insights tool, and Police Credit Union's web portal are commonly cited examples. These free bank reports typically include an estimated value range, three to four comparable recent sales, a suburb snapshot, and basic property attributes. They are limited compared to a full RP Data Professional report but are genuinely useful as a starting point.

Through Your Mortgage Broker

Mortgage brokers hold RP Data Professional subscriptions and can run full property reports for clients at no charge as part of their service. A broker-grade report includes more comparable sales (up to 18 or more), ownership history, zoning details, and additional suburb data. If you are working with a broker, ask them to pull a report on any property you are seriously considering.

Through Your Conveyancer

Conveyancers and solicitors routinely access title and ownership data through platforms powered by CoreLogic, often via products like Dye & Durham or InfoTrackGO (which resells the IntelliVal AVM). Your conveyancer can tell you what property data they pull as part of their standard due diligence.

Direct Purchase via Third-Party Resellers

Several services resell CoreLogic reports directly to consumers. A paid report from a reseller or financial services provider typically costs around $40 to $50 and provides substantially more data than a free bank portal report, including a wider set of comparable sales, zoning commentary, and rental yield estimates.

Understanding the Automated Valuation Model (AVM)

The AVM (Automated Valuation Model) estimate is typically the headline figure in a CoreLogic property report, and it is the number buyers focus on most. Understanding what it actually represents — and what it does not — is critical.

What an AVM Is

An AVM uses mathematical and statistical modelling applied to historical sales data, property attributes, and market trends to produce an estimated market value for a specific property at a point in time. CoreLogic's IntelliVal AVM draws on its database of millions of Australian residential property transactions, using patterns in comparable sales, property size, bedroom count, land area, location, and market conditions to generate the estimate.

The report does not present a single figure. It presents:

• An estimated value range (low to high) — for example, $850,000 to $970,000.
• A midpoint estimate — the central point of the range.
• A confidence score — an indication of how reliable the estimate is, based on the quality and quantity of comparable sales data available for that property and area.

How to Read the Confidence Score

The confidence score is arguably more important than the value estimate itself. A high confidence score means there are many recent, comparable sales in the area and the model has strong data to work with. A low confidence score means the model is working with limited comparable sales — this often happens with unique properties, acreage, properties in thinly traded markets, or properties that have unusual features that make comparison difficult.

When the confidence score is low, treat the AVM estimate as a rough directional indicator only, not as a reliable guide to market value. In these cases, seek additional evidence from your agent, broker, or a licensed valuer.

What an AVM Cannot Do

AVMs have well-documented limitations that buyers must understand:

• No physical inspection: An AVM assumes the property is in average condition. It cannot adjust for a freshly renovated kitchen and bathroom, nor can it discount for a roof that needs replacing or significant structural issues.
• Relies on public records: If the property has undergone improvements that were not captured in council records or permits, the model will not reflect them.
• Struggles with unique properties: Architecturally significant homes, large acreage blocks, waterfront properties with unusual aspects, or properties in very thin markets often produce low-confidence, wide-range estimates that have limited practical use.
• Lags fast-moving markets: In a rapidly rising or falling market, the AVM may lag current conditions because recent comparable sales take time to be recorded and processed.

Reading Comparable Sales (Comps)

The comparable sales section — often called "comps" — is, in many ways, the most actionable part of a CoreLogic property report. While the AVM is a model output, comparable sales are real transactions that actually occurred in the market.

What Comps Show You

Each comparable sale entry in the report will typically show:

• The address of the comparable property
• The sale price and settlement date
• Key attributes: bedrooms, bathrooms, car spaces, land size, floor area
• The distance from the subject property
• A photo of the comparable property (in most report formats)

How to Read Them Critically

Not all comps are equal. When reviewing comparable sales, assess them against the following criteria:

• Recency: How old are the sales? Comparable sales from six or more months ago may not reflect current market conditions, particularly in a moving market. Prioritise sales from the past three to four months.
• Proximity: Are the comps genuinely in the same suburb and street catchment, or are they pulling from a wider radius because there are few nearby sales? A comparable from an adjacent suburb with a different character can be misleading.
• True comparability: A five-bedroom house on 800 square metres is not a useful comp for a three-bedroom house on 400 square metres, even if they are on the same street. Look at the attribute match — bedrooms, bathrooms, land size, and whether the property is a house, villa, or townhouse.
• Condition: The report cannot tell you whether a comparable sale was a fully renovated property or one sold in original condition. Cross-reference the comparable addresses on realestate.com.au or Domain to view old listing photos and gauge condition.
• Volume: A free bank portal report may show only three to four comps. A full broker report will show many more. The more comps you have, the more reliable your analysis.

Market Trend Data: What the Charts Mean

A CoreLogic property report includes a suburb-level market snapshot with trend data. This is the broader market context for the property you are researching.

Median Price

The median sale price is the middle value in a ranked list of all sales in the suburb over a defined period (typically 12 months). It is more representative than the average price, which can be distorted by a small number of very high or very low sales. CoreLogic's median figures are calculated from settled sales recorded in their database. Compare the property's asking price to the suburb median for its property type (house or unit) to get a sense of where it sits in the local market.

Median Days on Market

This figure tells you how long, on average, properties in the suburb are taking to sell from the date of first listing to the date of contract exchange. A falling days-on-market figure indicates growing buyer demand; a rising figure suggests buyers are becoming more selective or that supply is outpacing demand.

Vendor Discount

The vendor discount (also called vendor discount rate) measures the average percentage difference between the original asking price and the final sale price. A vendor discount of -3% means sellers in that suburb are, on average, accepting 3% below their initial listing price. A low or near-zero vendor discount in a suburb signals strong buyer competition and limited negotiating room.

Clearance Rate

In markets where a significant proportion of properties sell at auction (notably Melbourne and inner Sydney), the clearance rate — the percentage of properties that sell at or before auction — is a real-time indicator of market strength. CoreLogic publishes weekly clearance rates for major capital cities. A sustained clearance rate above 65 to 70 per cent typically indicates a vendor- favourable market.

Turnover Rate

Turnover rate measures the proportion of properties in a suburb that changed hands in a given period. A suburb with a very low turnover rate has limited supply, which can support prices but also limits your ability to find opportunities. A high turnover rate may indicate a more liquid market.

Rental Data and Yield Information

If you are buying as an investor (or even as an owner-occupier considering future rental potential), the rental data section of a CoreLogic report provides useful benchmarks.

Estimated Weekly Rent

The report will include an estimated weekly rent for the subject property, derived from rental listings data in the RP Data database. This is a modelled estimate, similar to the AVM, and should be verified against current rental listings in the suburb on realestate.com.au or Domain before relying on it.

Gross Rental Yield

Gross rental yield is the most commonly cited yield figure. It is calculated as annual rental income expressed as a percentage of the property's purchase price or current market value:

Gross yield = (Weekly rent × 52) ÷ Property value × 100

For example, a property worth $700,000 renting at $550 per week would have a gross yield of approximately 4.1%. CoreLogic reports typically show gross yield, not net yield. Net yield — which deducts property management fees, council rates, water, insurance, maintenance, and vacancy periods — will be meaningfully lower. For residential investment property in Australia, net yields are typically 1 to 2 percentage points below gross yield.

Suburb Rental Median

The report will also show the median weekly rent for houses and units in the suburb. This contextualises the property-specific estimate: if the suburb median for a three-bedroom house is $620 per week and the report estimates $580, you can assess whether the subject property is likely to be above or below the median rent based on its condition and features.

CoreLogic Limitations: What the Report Cannot Tell You

A CoreLogic property report is a powerful research tool, but it has inherent limitations that buyers must understand before acting on the data.

• Condition is invisible: The report cannot assess whether a property has been renovated, is in disrepair, has structural issues, or has heritage restrictions that limit what you can do with it. This is the domain of a building and pest inspection and, for contract specifics, your conveyancer.
• No legal or planning detail: A CoreLogic report is not a substitute for a title search, zoning check, or planning certificate. Encumbrances, easements, caveats, and planning overlays are not comprehensively reported and must be verified through proper legal due diligence. See our guide on how to research a property before buying for the full due diligence checklist.
• Data lag: Property transactions take weeks or months to flow from settlement through to land registry and then into CoreLogic's database. In a fast market, the most recent sales may not yet appear.
• Off-market sales: Private sales that are not publicly advertised may not be captured in the comparable sales data, particularly in less transparent markets.
• Unique properties: The model performs best on standard residential properties in well-traded suburbs. Unique, high-value, or rural properties often have wide confidence intervals and limited comparables, making the AVM estimate less reliable.
• Not a formal valuation: A CoreLogic report — including the AVM — is explicitly not a formal valuation for mortgage or legal purposes. If you need a formal valuation (for example, for an SMSF purchase, family law settlement, or when your lender requires it), you must engage a licensed valuer.

Free Alternatives to CoreLogic

If you cannot access a CoreLogic report through your bank or broker, several free and low-cost alternatives provide overlapping data.

PropTrack (realestate.com.au)

PropTrack is owned by REA Group, the company behind realestate.com.au. It provides its own AVM covering more than 12.6 million Australian residential properties, drawing on REA Group's listing data alongside public records. When you view a property on realestate.com.au, the price estimate shown is powered by PropTrack. PropTrack also publishes the PropTrack Home Price Index, a monthly benchmark widely followed by media and analysts.

Domain Property Reports

Domain.com.au provides free property insights on its listing pages, including an estimated value range, historical sales, and recent area sales. Domain's parent company also owns PriceFinder, a professional-grade property data tool used by agents and investors that is broadly comparable to RP Data Professional.

propertyvalue.com.au

This free tool provides sold price data, estimated values, and suburb median statistics for Australian residential properties, drawing on publicly available records. It is a useful quick check for recent sales history.

SQM Research

SQM Research publishes free suburb-level data including vacancy rates, asking prices, rental listings, and stock on market. This is particularly useful for understanding the supply and demand dynamics of a rental market and assessing investment potential.

PEXA Insights

PEXA (Property Exchange Australia), which facilitates digital property settlements, publishes quarterly property insights reports and postcode-level settlement data. Their Postcode Insights tool allows buyers to look up settlement volumes, values, and turnover for specific postcodes across five mainland states. PEXA data is based on actual settlements processed through their platform, making it a reliable independent data source alongside CoreLogic.

Related Resources

• Realestate Lens Property Research feature — AI-powered neighbourhood and property research built into the app
• How to research a suburb before buying — what to look for beyond the property report
• How to research a property before buying — the full due diligence checklist for Australian buyers
• How to compare suburbs in Australia — using data to choose between competing locations

This guide is for general information only. Property valuations and market data change frequently. An AVM or property report is not a formal valuation and should not be the sole basis for a purchasing decision. Always engage a licensed valuer for a formal property valuation.