One of the oldest lessons in property is that rules rarely affect everyone equally. And that’s what concerns me about the latest changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. The Federal Government has framed the budget reforms as a means to improve housing affordability, support first home buyers, and redirect tax incentives towards new…
You’ve probably heard the stories. A buyer gets gazumped after thinking they had a deal locked in, or a seller quietly loses faith in their agent and starts second-guessing every piece of advice. None of this needs to happen, because real estate agents actually operate within a fairly tight legal framework, and once you understand…
Thinking of hiring a Buyers Agent to see you through these difficult times? Think again…. For most of the last five years, property investing in Australia has been forgiving. You could have picked a suburb almost at random — Melbourne aside — and still come out ahead. In that kind of market, the order you…
Most people who start investing in property never make it past their first or second purchase. In fact, around 92% of Australia’s 2.3 million property investors stall out early, and only a tiny fraction, around 20,000 people, ever build a portfolio of six properties or more. That’s a sobering statistic, but it’s not because property…
Australians are regularly told that inflation is running at a certain annual rate, yet many households look at their mortgage payments, rent, electricity bills, council rates, and insurance premiums and wonder whose cost of living the official figures really measure. Their experience feels very different because the headline Consumer Price Index is an average across…
Australia’s government debt has passed $1 trillion for the first time, and the sheer size of that figure naturally attracts some alarming headlines. As a trillion dollars is so far beyond the amounts we deal with in everyday life, it is difficult to understand what it actually represents, let alone decide whether we should be…
It might not feel like it when you’re at the checkout or watching your mortgage repayments rise, but Australians have quietly become some of the richest people on the planet. According to the latest Allianz Global Wealth Report 2025, the average Australian is now worth €383,720 (about $686,000) — making us the third-wealthiest population in…
It seems we have become a nation of “experts.” Just check your inbox or turn on the television and there they are. Experts on politics who have never run a business, let alone a country. Experts on football, even though they couldn’t run from one side of the field to the other. Experts on celebrities…
Australia’s rental market was already stretched before the federal government decided to rewrite the tax rules for property investors. Vacancy rates remain painfully low, advertised rents continue to rise faster than wages, and the country is failing to build enough homes for its growing population. Now, Labor’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax…
Why do governments use interest rates to control inflation? They are a blunt, unfair tool, taking money from those who can least afford it and giving it to those who probably don’t need more. The aim of higher rates is to slow down spending on goods and services by cutting buyer demand, but the extra…
