Property investors who owned assets before Budget night will continue to benefit from negative gearing. Therefore, most will be reluctant to sell, because if they subsequently reinvest in an established property, they will lose immediate access to those tax benefits. However, given the Melbourne property market’s significant underperformance over the past decade, investors are naturally…
By almost every traditional measure, Australians should be happier than previous generations. We are wealthier. We live longer. Our homes are larger and more comfortable, and we have access to healthcare, technology, entertainment, education and travel that our grandparents could barely have imagined. We carry devices in our pockets that give us instant access to…
For most property investors, Capital Gains Tax is something they usually think about when they’re preparing to sell. But the coming changes to Australia’s CGT regime mean there is an important date investors should be thinking about well before their property ever goes on the market. From 1 July 2027, the current 50% CGT discount for…
Australia’s migration boom is losing momentum, and that raises some important questions for our property markets. Migration has been a major driver of housing demand in recent years, particularly in our capital cities, where most new arrivals initially settle. However, the latest ABS figures confirm that the extraordinary post-pandemic surge is continuing to ease. At…
Most Australians know they need to save for retirement, but very few have worked out what their retirement will actually cost. They may have a superannuation target in mind, yet that figure often bears little relationship to the lifestyle they hope to enjoy once they stop working. After all, there is a big difference between…
For years, auctions have been the preferred selling method in Australia’s largest property markets, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney. When buyer demand is strong, an auction can create urgency, competition and fear of missing out, encouraging emotional buyers to push the price beyond where a private negotiation may have ended. However, auctions rely on one…
There’s something psychologically powerful about a suburb joining the “million-dollar club”. Crossing that seven-figure threshold attracts headlines and creates the impression that property values have permanently moved to a higher level. Yet property markets don’t move in straight lines, and the latest figures are just another reminder that median prices can move backwards. According to…
Would you like a Cash Machine? Imagine flicking a switch in the morning and having it churn out money all day while you get on with the things you love doing. Building a cash machine gives you the freedom to take your hands off the wheel, live comfortably, and pass wealth on to the next…
SQM Research released its August 2026 residential vacancy rate data together with its lat-est advertised rents data. Australia’s national residential vacancy rate held at 1.3% in August 2026, unchanged from July, with 41,039 residential vacancies recorded. Against August 2025 the picture is less static: vacan-cies are up by around 3,300 dwellings (8.7%) and the national…
For generations, Australians have responded to housing affordability pressures in a predictable way – when the home they wanted became too expensive, they moved further from the city. But something important is changing. Australia’s affordability problem has become so entrenched that many buyers are making a different compromise. Rather than simply changing where they live, they…
