One of the fastest-growing property strategies in Australia right now isn't buying where you live — it's rentvesting. Instead of stretching to buy in the suburb they actually want to live in, more Australians (especially under-40s) are renting in lifestyle-friendly areas like Bondi, Fitzroy, or South Bank, and buying investment properties in high-growth, affordable markets like Brisbane's Logan corridor, Perth's outer suburbs, or NSW regional towns.
The logic is cold-blooded and it works: rent where you want to live, own where the numbers stack up. With Sydney medians still hovering above $1.2M and Melbourne not far behind, this approach lets buyers get a foothold in the market without locking themselves into suburbs they don't love.
This is the big one. From 1 July 2027, negative gearing will no longer be available on established residential properties purchased after 7:30pm on 12 May 2026. If you already own a negatively geared property, you're protected — you can keep claiming until you sell. New builds remain fully exempt. But anyone who buys an established investment property now will eventually lose the ability to offset rental losses against their income. CBA modelling suggests this could push established property prices down around 3% from where they'd otherwise be.
🔗 Official Budget Fact Sheet →From 1 October 2025, the Home Guarantee Scheme became the 5% Deposit Scheme — and it now has unlimited places with no income cap. Any Australian who can save a 5% deposit can access government support, with property price caps lifted sharply (Sydney now up to $1.5M). If you're helping a first home buyer in your family, this is a genuinely significant improvement on the previous scheme.
🔗 Housing Australia — First Home Guarantee →The federal government's Help to Buy scheme launched in December 2025. Under it, the government co-buys up to 40% of a new home or 30% of an existing home, with buyers needing just a 2% deposit. It's means-tested and capped, but for eligible buyers it's a game-changer — effectively a government co-investor reducing both your deposit and your mortgage size.
🔗 Help to Buy — Official Scheme →QLD's boosted $30,000 First Home Owner Grant applies to contracts signed between 20 November 2023 and 30 June 2026 — that's one week away. If you're buying a new home in Queensland for the first time, this is a hard deadline. Don't miss it.
🔗 Queensland Revenue Office — First Home Grant →The federal government has extended the ban on foreign purchases of established dwellings to 30 June 2029, along with a new $2 billion Local Infrastructure Fund to support housing delivery. The infrastructure fund is aimed at unlocking new supply — roads, sewers, water — in greenfield areas where development has stalled.
🔗 Federal Budget 2026-27 →Our team tracks the market so you don't have to. Book a free strategy call and we'll show you what these numbers mean for YOUR portfolio.
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