SQM Research is the authority you read.
Micromarkets is the engine you explore.
SQM Research is the independent data house behind Australia’s vacancy-rate and weekly-rent series, its distressed-sales index, and Louis Christopher’s closely watched Boom & Bust forecasts — the numbers the media quotes. Micromarkets turns that same market-analytics ambition into an interactive national engine: 50+ dual-metric views, 30,000+ micro-markets split by property type and bedroom, and an emerging-markets AI.
SQM Research
Read the trusted number
Strongest when you need an authoritative figure, series or forecast.
- Vacancy-rate & weekly-rent series (since 2005)
- Distressed / mortgagee-sales index
- Boom & Bust capital-city forecasts
- Single-address valuations & raw data feeds
Micromarkets
Understand the market
Built for market discovery — scan, benchmark and compare at scale.
- Screen & benchmark 15,000+ Australian suburbs
- 30,000+ micro-markets by property type & bedroom
- 50+ dual-metric spatial map views
- Emerging markets, velocity, yield & supply signals
The key difference: SQM Research is an authoritative data house — the vacancy and weekly-rent series the media quotes, a distressed-sales index, and expert capital-city forecasts. Micromarkets is an interactive engine — a national map with 50+ dual-metric views across 30,000+ micro-markets you explore and compare yourself.
Where SQM hands you a trusted number or a report to read, Micromarkets hands you the whole market to operate — screen, rank and cross 100+ metrics across every suburb, split to property type and bedroom.
The market lens · live terminal
The whole market, ranked. Any place, read deep.
Reading 14,998 micro-markets — ranking them in front of you, the view a suburb-by-suburb tool can’t give.
One place, read deep — genuinely useful, and the way most research starts today.
Don’t chase the market — see it move first. Every Australian suburb and segment, ranked in one view.
No sign-up — the full demo is free.
The real difference
It comes down to the question you’re asking
Both are genuinely good tools — the difference is the job each one does.
SQM Research answers
“What’s the trusted number, series or forecast?”
Get an authoritative vacancy rate, weekly-rent series, distressed-sales list or capital-city forecast.
Micromarkets answers
“Where is the market moving — and where’s my edge?”
Compare markets at scale to find the suburbs, property types and bedroom segments with the strongest signals.
SQM Research gives you authoritative data to read; Micromarkets gives you an interactive engine to operate.
So it isn’t really about which platform has more data— it’s about the decision you’re making.
Use SQM Research when you need the benchmark vacancy or rent series, a macro forecast, or a single-address valuation.
Use Micromarkets to discover and compare 30,000+ micro-markets visually, yourself.
The comparison
Point for point
Stated plainly, as of July 2026. Where SQM Research is strong, it gets the tick.
| SQM Research | Micromarketsthe market lens | |
|---|---|---|
| Where SQM Research is strong | Who does it better? | |
| Rental vacancy-rate series (since 2005)the industry-reference vacancy series; Micromarkets tracks lease volume & velocity, not a vacancy index | ||
| Weekly asking-price & rent indicesSQM refreshes weekly; Micromarkets monthly, with near real-time 3-month windows on Plus | ||
| Distressed / mortgagee-sales databasea 40+-keyword distressed-listings report; Micromarkets has no distress product | ||
| Macro capital-city price forecastsChristopher’s Boom & Bust; Micromarkets grades momentum rather than forecasting prices | ||
| Single-address valuation (AVM)SQM values individual properties; Micromarkets is suburb-level | ||
| Raw data / CSV feedsbuy the underlying series back to 2005; Micromarkets is an app, not a data vendor | ||
| Fund / ETF / SMA investment ratingsa separate AFSL-licensed ratings business | ||
Interactive market discovery | ||
| Interactive map analytics50+ dual-metric views; SQM charts one series at a time (its map sits inside paid Property Explorer) | ||
| Find emerging marketsGraded A+ to D by a model that rewards consistency over spikes: micro-markets that grew in BOTH price and activity across several years — the pattern that most often precedes durable, sustained growth. Rental markets are scored the same way, on rents and lease volumes.AI/ML surfaces dip-resistant micro-markets compounding growth in both price and volume | ||
| Track market demanddedicated Market Velocity & Momentum demand signals | ||
| House, unit & bedroom breakdown30,000+ micro-markets split by property type AND bedroom | ||
| Suburb finderscreen 15k+ suburbs on market, demographic, ancestry, employment & economic-resource criteria | ||
| Buy-vs-Rent scenario tooldrag the interest rate and the whole map recolours | ||
| 100+ metrics in one interactive surfaceSQM’s series are deep but siloed per chart or report | ||
Shared foundations | ||
| Suburb / postcode-level granularity | ||
| National coverage, all states | ||
| Rental & rent dataSQM = authoritative weekly rents · Micromarkets = 5-yr rent tapes + lease volume | ||
| Days-on-market & stock-on-market signals | ||
| Census / demographics integration | ||
| Accessible, low-commitment entrySQM one-off reports from $49.95 · Micromarkets first report free | ||
The Platform
Unlimited Discovery. Unlimited potential.
Explore the entire property market in one place — compare markets, signals, and hidden pockets of opportunity that standard suburb research leaves behind.
30,000+ micro-markets
Every suburb, split by property type and bedroom — never blurred into one average. Track the market with absolute precision.
100+ advanced metrics
Price, yield, momentum, velocity, supply, demand and dozens more — every angle, every market.
Interactive maps & dual views
150+ single-metric heatmaps, plus 60+ dual-metric overlays that fuse two signals into one map.
Market Velocity Index
A proprietary score fusing how fast homes sell (or lease) with how much is trading — see which micro-markets are in highest demand.
Supply & emerging markets
See where stock is running dry, and the markets consistently rising in price and volume, year after year, regardless of the market cycle.
Next-gen suburb reports
Explore our industry-leading suburb reports that capture the finer details that make all the difference.
Spatial Intelligence
Read the market from 30,000 feet.
Find the signal in the noise.
Most of the industry only sees half the picture. Price growth on a map alone doesn't tell you why a suburb is moving—or whether it'll keep moving. Our map lets you layer two market signals at once—like days on market against annual price growth—surfacing markets excelling in both that remain invisible to the rest of the industry. Explore the map below and see what true market clarity feels like.
Momentum Matrix
Price Growth × Days on Market
Active view: Days on Market × Price Growth (12m) — upper-right quadrant markets are experiencing peak buyer urgency and capital growth simultaneously. Switch metrics via the Engine control above.
What Dual-Metric Solves
A suburb selling fast could be a booming hotspot—or it could be a distressed market selling at a discount. Likewise, 'high rental yields' can mask a collapsing local economy where property values are plummeting. Without context, data isn’t an insight; it’s a guess.
What Dual-Metric Reveals
By layering two metrics, we surface critical intelligence that neither provides alone. This synergy reveals the true nature of the market—its cycle, demand intensity, and underlying trend that remain invisible to 99.9% of the industry.
Alpha Generation
Over 50+ dual-metric views, each one engineered to surface a different layer of the market. Hunt for growth corridors. Track emerging hotspots. Find undervalued suburbs. Whatever your strategy demands, there's a view built to deliver it.
Plans & pricing
Priced for how you work
Every plan, side by side — what each costs and what it unlocks.
SQM Research
One-off reports + monthly subscriptions
- Free chartsVacancy, rents, listings, prices$0
- Boom & Bust ReportAnnual capital-city forecast$69.95
- My Property ReportSingle-address valuation$59.95
- Postcode SnapshotUnlimited postcodes$99.95/mo
- Property ExplorerDesktop valuation + map$128.70/mo
Micromarkets
Four plans · billed monthly
- Access2 suburb reports / mo · 1 state$89/mo
- Access PlusUnlimited reports · 1 state$149/mo
- Professional PlusUnlimited reports · national$249/mo
- Executive PlusUnlimited reports · national + Emerging Markets$499/mo
SQM Research pricing observed 14 July 2026 from sqmresearch.com.au; SQM mixes free live charts, one-off reports ($49.95–$69.95), and monthly subscriptions (Property Explorer $128.70/mo, Distressed Report $59.95/mo), plus quote-based data feeds and a separate fund-ratings business. On Micromarkets your first suburb report is free, and subscribers get 50% off any reports beyond their plan.
Questions people ask
- Can I trust Micromarkets data?
- Yes. It is built on official and industry-grade sources — ABS Census data plus comprehensive sales, listing and rental records — and rebuilt from a monthly data pipeline, with every suburb report stating the exact 12-month window its figures cover. Nothing is a black box: behind each score you can read the underlying price, rent, sales-volume and days-on-market history, and low-sample markets are flagged so you know when a number rests on only a handful of transactions.
- Is SQM Research better for rental and vacancy data?
- For an authoritative vacancy-rate or weekly-rent time series, yes — SQM is the industry reference, with data back to 2005, and it is the series the media cites. Micromarkets tracks rents, yields and lease volume and velocity, but it does not publish a vacancy-rate index. Different jobs: a benchmark series to cite, versus an engine to explore.
- Does SQM have an interactive national map like Micromarkets?
- Not in the same way. SQM’s free data is chart-by-chart, and its only interactive map sits inside the paid Property Explorer subscription. Micromarkets’ whole product is a national, dual-metric interactive map across 30,000+ micro-markets, with 50+ crossed-metric views you operate yourself.
- Does either forecast prices?
- SQM publishes explicit human capital-city price forecasts (Christopher’s Boom & Bust Report). Micromarkets does not forecast prices; its emerging-markets detector grades, A+ to D, which micro-markets are compounding growth in both price and volume — a read on live momentum rather than a prediction.
- Which is cheaper?
- It depends on the job. SQM one-off reports ($49.95–$69.95) are cheap for a single answer; its interactive Property Explorer is $128.70/mo. Micromarkets starts at $89/mo with your first suburb report free, and includes the full interactive app and national analytics rather than per-report pricing.
- Can I value a specific address?
- With SQM, yes — My Property Report and Property Explorer give a single-address estimate with comparable sales. Micromarkets is suburb-level and does not value individual properties; it is built to compare and discover markets rather than appraise one house.
Judge it on a suburb you know
Pick any suburb — your first report is free, and the exact data window is printed on it.
SQM Research, Property Explorer, Postcode Snapshot and Christopher’s Housing Boom and Bust Report are marks of SQM Research Pty Ltd; Micromarkets is not affiliated with or endorsed by SQM Research. This comparison reflects publicly available information as of July 2026 and our own product as shipped. Spot something out of date? Tell usand we’ll correct it.