Property Investment After Budget 2026: The Strategies That Still Work Now the Reform Is Law

Updated 5 October 2026 for the enacted Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026. Data as at: Cotality Home Value Index, September 2026 (released 1 October); SQM Research vacancy, August 2026; RBA decision of 29 September 2026; bank forecasts at 2 October 2026. Legislation checked 5 October 2026. General information only, not personal advice.

The 2026 Budget's property tax measures are now law, and this guide sets out the post-budget 2026 property investment strategies that still work under them. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 passed both houses on 25 June 2026 and received Royal Assent the next day. From 1 July 2027, rental losses on established dwellings bought after 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 can no longer be deducted against salary, and the 50% CGT discount for individuals and trusts gives way to CPI indexation and a 30% minimum tax. Since 10 August 2026, self-managed super funds can borrow under new arrangements only for business real property, which rules out geared residential purchases.

The law arrived in a falling market. Cotality's national index fell 1.1% in September, its sixth monthly fall in a row, and sits 5.2% below the March 2026 peak. The cash rate rose to 4.60% on 29 September, the fourth increase this year.

On the rules as legislated and the market as it stands, our analysis is that four strategies still work and three are hit hardest, and that the 1 July 2027 CGT change is not by itself a reason to sell. For the mechanics of negative gearing, start with our complete negative gearing guide, explained under the enacted 2027 rules; this guide covers strategy.

Key takeaways

• Nothing changes for negative gearing or CGT in 2026-27. Every investor deducts rental losses under the old rules until 30 June 2027.
• Grandfathering covers gearing only, and is unlimited. Property contracted before the cut-off keeps full negative gearing with no cap or expiry; its CGT method still changes on 1 July 2027.
• Gains to 30 June 2027 keep the 50% discount through a deemed disposal, with tax deferred until you sell. There is no tax reason to rush a sale.
• A contract signed today is on the new side of the line. On our illustrative $700,000 established purchase, a $90,000 earner loses a $6,426 a year salary offset from 2027-28 (about $124 a week), and the ten-year break-even growth rate rises from about 2.1% to 2.8% a year.
• The new-dwelling carve-out is in the Act, but its definition is still a Treasury consultation draft.
• Yield is now the central number. National gross yields are 3.85%, the highest since August 2019, but an 80% interest-only loan at an assumed 6.75% needs roughly 6.9% gross for a house (about 7.9% for a unit) to break even before tax.

At a glance: what still works and what is hit hardest

Source: Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 (No. 49, 2026), Schedules 1, 2 and 5. "Role" column is our analysis.

Source: as above. Ranking of impact is our analysis.

What the enacted law changed, and what is still pending

Negative gearing quarantining (Schedule 2, new s 26-155). From the 2027-28 income year, a net rental loss on an established residential dwelling last acquired after 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 is quarantined. The contract date generally counts, not settlement. The rule applies to individuals, companies and trusts alike; the only entity carve-outs in s 26-155(4) are widely held unit trusts and complying super funds. Outside the rule sit grandfathered dwellings (no cap, no expiry), new residential dwellings, and activities the Minister determines, such as social and affordable housing.

A quarantined loss can offset income from quarantined dwellings, net rental income from other dwellings (including grandfathered ones) and revenue or capital gains on residential property. Unused amounts carry forward indefinitely, unless extinguished on bankruptcy, but can no longer reduce salary, business income or non-property investment income.

The CGT method (Schedule 1). From 1 July 2027, individuals and trusts lose the 50% discount and instead index the cost base for CPI, with a 30% minimum tax under Division 119. A deemed disposal at market value just before 1 July 2027 (s 112-155) preserves the discount on gains to 30 June 2027, with tax deferred to the actual sale. Companies never had the discount. Complying super funds keep their one-third discount and are excluded from the deemed disposal and the minimum tax. New dwellings keep a 50% discount on later growth, with the option of indexation and the 30% minimum instead (ss 115-100(a) and 115-102).

The SMSF borrowing ban (Schedule 5). Since 10 August 2026, a fund cannot enter a new limited recourse borrowing arrangement over real property unless it is business real property (SIS Act s 67A(2)(c)). Earlier arrangements are grandfathered, including maintaining and refinancing them, as are acquisitions contracted before commencement that settle later.

Source: Federal Register of Legislation (Act No. 49, 2026); Treasury ministerial release and consultation materials, 4 August 2026; ATO new-legislation pages. Status as at 5 October 2026.

The market the reform landed in

Source: Cotality Home Value Index, September 2026 (released 1 October 2026), as first published; SQM Research, August 2026; RBA, 29 September 2026; ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026; forecasts as compiled in our forecast scorecard, 2 October 2026.

Darwin was the only capital to rise in September. Rents rose 5.5% over the year, but September's monthly gain of 0.3% was the smallest since May 2025; on our reading, recent yield gains are coming more from falling prices than from rising rents. Our September index analysis has the city detail. Cotality's Tim Lawless noted that "97% of capital city suburbs were down in value over the three months to end of September"; Cotality's outlook is that "the most likely outcome remains a gradual drift lower in housing values rather than a material downturn".

On rates, the next RBA decision is on 3 November. Westpac and ANZ expect 4.85%; CBA, NAB and AMP expect a hold. On prices, peak-to-trough forecasts are CBA 9% national, Macquarie about 10%, ANZ 10.6% for the capitals and HSBC 13%, within a range from Westpac's 7.3% (five capitals) to the top of AMP's 10% to 15%. Our house price forecast scorecard tracks each against the index.

Cotality also links part of the weakness to the reform: "Less favourable negative gearing and capital gains tax arrangements have already seen a sharp reduction in investor demand." Our analysis: with rates and tax moving at once, no single price move can be pinned on the reform. These conditions favour buyers with cash, patience and a cash-flow-first test.

Strategy 1: the new-dwelling investor

The tax and finance case

For a fresh purchase, a qualifying new dwelling is the main way to keep a deduction against salary; the other exemptions cover dwellings leased for purposes the Minister determines, such as affordable housing. On a later sale, the owner can choose the 50% discount or indexation with the 30% minimum, and the discount is worth most when growth is strong (see the CGT table under Strategy 3). The 2017 limit on depreciating previously used plant and equipment does not apply to a genuinely new dwelling, so the first owner can claim items such as appliances (a quantity surveyor's schedule sets the value). APRA's DTI limit also exempts loans for buying or building new dwellings, which matters near six times income, though APRA's lending test is not the tax definition below.

What qualifies is still pending

The Act leaves the definition of "new residential dwelling" to a Ministerial instrument, and none has been made. On 4 August 2026 Treasury released draft rules for consultation and said the final definition would go into the Act instead. In the Treasurer's release, a property would generally be "new" where it "genuinely adds to housing supply, provided the property was acquired within 24 months of a certificate of occupancy being issued", extending the 12 months set out in the Budget.

Treasury's explanatory material on the draft sets out four cases. Each requires a dwelling in Australia whose occupancy certificate was first issued after 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 (a transitional rule covers developers' unsold earlier stock), held as an interest another party could buy:

• Basic case: a dwelling built or installed on land that had no habitable dwelling when bought, including a house rebuilt after a derelict or condemned building is demolished.
• Adding dwellings: extra dwellings on land that already had one, such as a separately titled second house after subdivision (the original house stays established).
• Conversion: a non-residential building converted into dwellings.
• Purchase within 24 months: buying a dwelling that was new for the seller, no more than 24 months after its first occupancy certificate. Treasury expects this to cover off-the-plan purchases, which settle after the certificate issues.

The same material says a granny flat without its own title takes the status of the main dwelling (negatively gearable if the main dwelling is grandfathered, quarantined if it is not), and that a reissued occupancy certificate after a substantial renovation does not make a dwelling new. An anti-avoidance rule would deny new status to arrangements designed to manufacture it. Consultation closed on 21 August; no Bill has been introduced.

Our reading: until the definition is enacted, price any purchase whose tax case depends on the detail (a resale late in the 24-month window, a rebuild, an untitled granny flat) as if it were established.

The risks to price in

Settlement valuation. Off-the-plan contracts often settle 12 to 24 months after exchange. With values 5.2% off their peak and forecasts pointing lower, the lender's valuation can come in below the contract price, leaving a gap to fund in cash. Our suggestion: hold a buffer for a 5% to 10% shortfall rather than counting on refinancing.

Developer premium. New stock usually costs more than comparable established stock. Our new build versus established comparison sets out a method for testing the premium; apply it with the enacted rules in this guide.

Builder strength. Check the developer's delivery record, confirm home warranty or compensation-fund cover, and prefer fixed-price contracts with buyer-protective sunset clauses.

Policy. The purchase should still make sense if the Opposition's repeal pledge were carried out and the new-dwelling advantage disappeared.

Who it fits: investors on the 37% or 45% rate who can carry a shortfall, wait for settlement and hold a valuation buffer, including those near the DTI threshold. It does not suit first-time investors with thin buffers, anyone who needs rent immediately, or a plan that depends on an edge-case property qualifying.

Strategy 2: the yield-first cash-flow investor

Why the reform helps cash-flow buyers

An investor who never relied on a salary offset gives up nothing on 1 July 2027. Competing buyers who used the offset to outbid them on low-yield established stock have lost that support. Our reading is that this thins competition where loss-financed investors were active; the June-quarter fall in investor lending fits that reading but cannot prove cause on its own.

The arithmetic that sets the bar

Here is the reform's effect on a post-cut-off established purchase by an investor on a $90,000 salary.

Assumptions: illustrative. $700,000 established dwelling, 80% LVR. 6.75% interest-only is the site's assumed post-hike rate (RBA Table F6 July 2026 new investor interest-only rate of 6.50% plus the 25 basis point September rise, full pass-through), not a market quote. 2026-27 resident tax rates; taxable income stays in the 30% bracket; no vacancy; no other residential income to absorb the quarantined loss. Rounded to the nearest dollar.

The lost offset is $6,426 a year, about $124 a week. The loss still carries forward against future residential rental profit and residential capital gains, so its value arrives when the property turns a profit or is sold, not in each year's tax return.

Over a ten-year hold with an illustrative $50,000 of buying and selling costs, the property needs about 2.1% a year growth to return the investor's money if grandfathered, and about 2.8% if bought now (our calculation, before CGT and before using the carried-forward loss, which would lower the second figure). To break even on cash before tax, the rent would need to be about $898 a week, against $560 today.

As a rule of thumb, at 80% LVR and an assumed 6.75% interest-only rate (interest of 5.4% of value), a house with holding costs near 1.5% of value needs roughly 6.9% gross to be cash-flow neutral before tax, and a unit with costs near 2.5% about 7.9%; at 60% LVR, about 5.6% and 6.6%. These match the cost bands in our yield rankings; the worked example's costs are lower (about 1.3% of value), so its $898 break-even rent is a gross yield of about 6.7%.

Where the yield is (as at September 2026)

Our 2026 rental yield suburb rankings carry the full tables. For strategy purposes:

• Darwin yields 6.5% (units 7.5%) on 0.4% vacancy and was the only capital to rise in September; Karama units (7.67%) and Berrimah houses (7.56%) lead the realestate.com.au type-split data to April 2026. It is a thin market with a history of long flat spells.
• Inner-Melbourne units are the strongest large-capital yields (Melbourne units average 5.2%) but have a weak growth record, so we treat them as income assets.
• Perth's sub-$800,000 house belt (Cannington and Bullsbrook at 5.0% on REIWA's 2025-26 tables) has 0.6% vacancy, but values are 6.0% off their April peak and listings have risen sharply.
• Adelaide has 0.6% vacancy but yields only 3.6%; Salisbury units, once a 6% story, sit at about a $525,000 median and 5.05% on our September Top 10 verification.
• Diversified regional centres at 5% to 6%, such as Launceston's northern suburbs and Mackay units, avoid mining-town volatility.

Our yield expansion analysis explains the mechanics; our positive cash flow property guide covers the full-cost method.

The yield trap

High yield often comes with low growth: on illustrative numbers, $400,000 growing at 1.5% a year is worth about $539,000 after 20 years, and at 4% about $876,000. Before buying for yield, run the five-check screen from our yield rankings: vacancy under 2% and stable, population and jobs growing, no dominant single employer, rents affordable locally, and a flat or rising five-year price trend.

Who it fits: self-employed and contract investors, income-seeking pre-retirees, portfolio builders who need serviceable assets, and anyone buying established stock after the cut-off.

Strategy 3: the unleveraged SMSF (and business real property)

What survived and what did not

A fund's tax position is unchanged: losses are not quarantined, gains on assets held more than 12 months are taxed at an effective 10% in accumulation, and assets supporting retirement-phase pensions are generally exempt. Borrowing is now limited to business real property, and existing residential arrangements are grandfathered. A cash purchase can put most of a fund into one illiquid asset, which the fund's investment strategy must justify on diversification and liquidity. Our SMSF residential LRBA ban guide covers the transition, and our business real property guide covers the route that can still borrow.

The CGT comparison under the enacted rules

Tax on the same gain by structure, for a $500,000 purchase held ten years with all growth after 1 July 2027:

Assumptions: our illustrative calculation. CPI 3% a year (cost-base uplift $171,958); individual at 45% plus 2% Medicare levy with other income above $190,000; new dwelling uses whichever of the 50% discount and indexation gives less tax, the choice s 115-102 provides (as described in Treasury's August 2026 explanatory material); SMSF accumulation at 15% with the one-third discount; retirement phase assumes the asset wholly supports retirement-phase pensions within the transfer balance cap. Ignores Division 296, costs and quarantined losses; the 30% minimum does not bind at 47%. The ATO has not published indexation factors.

For an individual taxed at 30% or more, the new method beats the old discount when growth is close to inflation and costs more when growth runs well ahead of it. The crossover is where the nominal gain is twice the indexation uplift: about 5.4% a year over ten years at 3% CPI. The new-dwelling choice and super's lower rate both save the most when growth is fast, and retirement phase removes the tax altogether.

Division 296

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Act 2026 (Royal Assent 13 March 2026) commenced on 1 July 2026. It taxes realised earnings only (an unsold property's revaluation is not taxed): an extra 15% on earnings attributable to balances above $3 million and a further 10% above $10 million, with thresholds indexed. Funds can make an optional, irrevocable cost-base reset to 30 June 2026 values; the first measurement date is 30 June 2027. Our Division 296 property action guide works through the reset.

Who it fits: funds that can buy outright and stay diversified, members with long horizons, and business owners whose fund can buy their premises as business real property.

Strategy 4: the grandfathered long hold

Worth more to its owner than to any buyer

A grandfathered property's treatment belongs to its current owner; a buyer acquires a post-cut-off dwelling with quarantined losses. A deeply negatively geared established property is therefore worth more after tax to its grandfathered owner than to a new investor, and our reading is that this wedge discourages sales by grandfathered owners and lowers what new investors will pay for loss-making stock.

Two qualifications apply. Grandfathering protects gearing only; the CGT method still changes on 1 July 2027, with the deemed disposal protecting gains to that date. And status depends on the ownership interest staying put: a refinance does not change it, but moving ownership into a trust or between spouses can, so take tax and duty advice before any transfer.

Extract rather than trade

If you need capital for another purchase, refinancing a grandfathered property usually preserves more value than selling, which triggers CGT, transaction costs and the permanent loss of the deduction. Finance sets the limit, because equity release adds debt that lenders will assess at roughly 9.65% to 9.75% on new investor lending, and larger portfolios may meet APRA's DTI limit. Our exit strategy guide runs the full sell-refinance-hold decision.

Selling still makes sense for a broken asset (chronic vacancy, defects, a declining local economy), when one property is most of your net worth, or when a planned need for cash can be timed for a low-income year.

The three strategies hit hardest

A. Loss-financed established property bought after the cut-off. On the worked example, a $90,000 earner's after-tax cost rises from about $215 to about $338 a week from 2027-28. At higher incomes the lost offset is larger: a $145,000 earner would lose about $7,100 a year on the same property, because part of the loss falls in the 39% band (our arithmetic). Portfolio investors are hit less, because a quarantined loss can absorb net rental income from grandfathered properties.

B. Short-hold, fast-gain trading. From 1 July 2027, individuals and trusts are taxed on the CPI-indexed real gain, with a 30% minimum, instead of half the nominal gain. For investors taxed at 30% or more, the new method costs more whenever the nominal gain exceeds twice the indexation uplift, and fast gains from renovation or subdivision are mostly real. The effect per deal is moderate. Buying for $700,000 after 1 July 2027 and selling two years later for $800,000, with 3% CPI, a top-rate trader would pay about $26,960 against $23,500 under the old discount (our illustrative arithmetic, ignoring costs). For established stock bought after the cut-off, holding losses are quarantined as well.

C. Geared SMSF residential purchases. New arrangements are prohibited from 10 August 2026. Geared purchases survive only for funds that contracted earlier, and for business real property.

Borrowing power: rates, the buffer and the DTI limit

Assessment rates. APRA expects lenders to assess serviceability at the loan rate plus a 3 percentage point buffer: roughly 9.65% to 9.75% on a new investor rate of 6.65% to 6.75%. Our RBA rate rise analysis estimates the September rise alone cut the maximum 30-year loan by about 2.1%, income and expenses unchanged; results vary by lender.

The DTI limit. From 1 February 2026, APRA requires authorised deposit-taking institutions to limit residential mortgage lending with a debt-to-income ratio of 6 times income or higher to 20% of all new mortgage lending. The cap applies separately to owner-occupier and investor lending, measured quarterly, and exempts loans for new dwelling purchases and construction and owner-occupier bridging loans. At a $145,000 income, six times is $870,000 of total debt. Our APRA DTI guide covers how lenders apply it.

The tax benefit in serviceability. Many lenders have taken some account of the tax benefit of negative gearing when assessing income ($6,426 a year on our worked example). For a post-cut-off established property, that benefit stops from 1 July 2027. We would expect lenders to reflect this over time, but how and when is each lender's policy, so ask a broker how each lender treats losses on post-cut-off property.

Five investor profiles (illustrative)

These profiles are hypothetical and simplified.

Profile 1: first-time investor, contracting in October 2026

Situation: Age 34, $145,000 salary, renting, about $150,000 in savings. Any contract now is post-cut-off.

Reasoning: An established purchase gets the salary offset in 2026-27 only; on the $700,000 example, about $7,100 a year is lost from 2027-28 at this income. A new dwelling keeps the offset, but off-the-plan settlement risk weighs heavily on a first purchase with a thin buffer.

Strategy: A cash-flow-first established purchase at a lower price point in a tight-vacancy market, or a completed new dwelling whose occupancy-certificate date and qualification can be checked before exchange. Our rentvesting guide covers renting while investing.

Profile 2: four-property couple, one purchase after the cut-off

Situation: Ages 48 and 46, $180,000 combined income, $1.1 million equity. Three properties contracted before 12 May 2026; one contracted in June 2026, so quarantined from 1 July 2027.

Reasoning: The June property's losses can offset net rental income from the three grandfathered properties. Selling it would cost transaction fees and possibly a loss in a falling market.

Strategy: Keep all four and have the tax agent estimate how much grandfathered rental profit can absorb the quarantined loss. With four mortgages against $180,000 of income (six times is $1.08 million), any further purchase is more likely to fit lending limits as a new dwelling, which is DTI-exempt.

Profile 3: SMSF that planned a geared residential purchase

Situation: Members aged 52 and 50, $900,000 fund, planning a geared $650,000 residential purchase not contracted before 10 August 2026.

Reasoning: Borrowing is no longer available, and a cash purchase would put about 72% of the fund into one asset. Division 296 is not relevant at this balance.

Strategy: With the fund's adviser, compare a cheaper cash purchase (if the investment strategy can justify the concentration), business real property for a member's business, and staying diversified.

Profile 4: pre-retiree with a large grandfathered gain

Situation: Age 61, Sydney house bought in 2012, planning to sell around 2028 after retiring.

Reasoning: The deemed disposal protects the 50% discount on the gain to 30 June 2027 whenever the house sells. Sydney is 8.6% below its February peak, so selling early to get ahead of 1 July 2027 saves no tax and could cost on price. If values fall after 30 June 2027, a tax agent should model how that loss interacts with the deferred gain.

Strategy: Hold to the planned sale, collect valuation evidence around June 2027, and consider selling in the first full retirement year. Our 1 July 2027 CGT guide and CGT sell-versus-hold calculator test the timing.

Profile 5: high-income professional who wants a deduction

Situation: $230,000 salary, one grandfathered property, wants a second investment and values the deduction.

Reasoning: At 47%, the offset an established purchase loses from 2027-28 is large. A new dwelling keeps it, and its CGT choice is worth most if growth is strong, against a developer premium and settlement risk.

Strategy: Compare a qualifying new dwelling with an established property on total after-tax return, using our negative gearing calculator and our grandfathering and transition plan.

Where each strategy fits: the city map

Source: Cotality Home Value Index, September 2026 (released 1 October 2026), as first published; SQM Research National Residential Vacancy Rates, August 2026. "Strategy fit" is our analysis, not a recommendation.

The traps to avoid before 1 July 2027

Trap 1: selling to beat 1 July 2027. The gain to 30 June 2027 keeps the discount whenever you sell, while an early sale gives up grandfathered gearing permanently and, in a falling market, may mean a weaker price.

Trap 2: off-the-plan without a valuation buffer. With forecasts pointing lower, a buyer without cash to cover a below-contract settlement valuation may be unable to settle.

Trap 3: restructuring to "beat the cap". Moving a personally held property into a trust or company is generally a CGT and stamp duty event and can end grandfathering. Companies are inside quarantining anyway. Our trust versus personal name guide covers the trade-offs; the proposed 2028 trust minimum tax is another reason to take advice first.

Trap 4: relying on an edge-case "new" property. Under Treasury's draft, a substantial renovation or an untitled granny flat does not create a new dwelling, and resales late in the 24-month window or rebuilds turn on detail that could change before enactment. Price them as established until the definition is law.

The 12-month outlook: scenarios, positions and our view

Dates to watch: the RBA on 3 November, the pending items in the table above (none with a confirmed date), the 30 June 2027 valuation date and the 1 July 2027 start.

The Government presented the package as redirecting investor concessions toward new supply while protecting existing investors through unlimited grandfathering. The Opposition voted against the Bill; Angus Taylor committed in his Budget reply to repealing the negative gearing and CGT changes, and Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson restated that after passage. Industry and data providers: Cotality links part of the fall in investor demand to the changes, and the Housing Industry Association's modelling, which we analysed in March, argued before passage that the carve-out would not fully replace lost investment in established rental stock.

Our view, with moderate confidence:

• Base case. Values drift lower into the first half of 2027, broadly within the forecast cluster, while yields keep rising as prices fall. This favours Strategy 2 buyers with deposits and patience.
• Downside case. A November rise to 4.85% and weaker employment push falls toward the top of the range, raising off-the-plan settlement risk and tightening serviceability, with highly geared owners hit hardest.
• Upside case. Inflation eases and rate cuts come into view in 2027, so falls stop earlier.

In every case the 1 July 2027 start stays fixed unless Parliament changes it, and repeal would need a change of government and new legislation. We treat repeal within a normal holding period as unlikely but possible; Australia's 1985 quarantining regime was reversed in 1987.

Frequently asked questions

The Bottom Line

• The timetable is fixed. Quarantining and the new CGT method start on 1 July 2027; the SMSF borrowing ban started on 10 August 2026; 2026-27 runs under the old rules.
• On our analysis, grandfathered property is the most valuable position in the market for its owner, because its treatment cannot be recreated once sold.
• Every established purchase should pass a cash-flow test: roughly 6.9% gross for a house (7.9% for a unit) at 80% LVR on our assumptions, or a larger deposit.
• New dwellings are policy-favoured but carry risk: a pending definition, settlement valuations in a falling market and developer premiums.
• There is no CGT deadline to sell before.
• Finance is now the binding constraint for many investors, with a 4.60% cash rate, the 3 point buffer and the DTI limit.

What would change this view

• The new-dwelling definition is enacted materially narrower or wider than Treasury's August draft, for example a shorter resale window than 24 months or different treatment of rebuilds.
• The cash rate rises to 4.85% or beyond, lifting the cash-flow break-even yield and strengthening the downside case.
• Rents stall through the spring season, leaving yield expansion to falling prices alone.
• A party positioned to legislate commits to amend or repeal before 1 July 2027, changing the value of grandfathered status and of the new-dwelling carve-out.
• Lenders move faster than expected on post-cut-off losses in serviceability, tightening borrowing for portfolio builders.

Methodology and data as at

• Legislation: Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 (No. 49, 2026; passed 25 June, Assent 26 June 2026), Schedules 1, 2 and 5; Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Act 2026 (Assent 13 March 2026). Pending items from Treasury and ATO pages, 5 October 2026. New-dwelling cases are from Treasury's August 2026 explanatory material, a consultation draft that is not law.
• Values, yields, rents, sales: Cotality Home Value Index, September 2026 (released 1 October 2026), as first published; revised monthly.
• Vacancy: SQM Research National Residential Vacancy Rates, August 2026.
• Rates: RBA decision of 29 September 2026; RBA Table F6, July 2026 (new investor interest-only 6.50%, variable 6.40%). The 6.75% rate assumes the July F6 rate plus 25 basis points, fully passed through.
• Lending and forecasts: ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026; forecasts as compiled in our scorecard at 2 October 2026.
• Worked examples: 2026-27 resident rates plus 2% Medicare levy; $50,000 round-trip costs; CPI 3% a year in CGT examples.