It's only a loss if the people that bought at 1.2M are now...

It's only a loss if the people that bought at 1.2M are now selling and have sold for 900k.
You can *roughly* check anecdotal statements like that with online searches like the one below.
It's limited to current listings. I used the price range of 900,000 -1,200,000
http://www.onthehouse.com.au/proper...partment,Townhouse&status=off-market,for-sale


You look at a place like this:
http://www.onthehouse.com.au/180168...ckofunits,Terrace,Servicedapartment,Townhouse

It was bought in 2007 for 1.02M and then sold in 2017 for 1M.
They got utility out of it, it depreciated, maybe some improvements were made, etc ... there was inflation during that period.
Lots of factors.