Property investing
The tax rules just changed. Most investor content hasn't caught up.
From 1 July 2027, negative gearing on established properties is limited to new builds, and the 50% CGT discount is being replaced with indexation and a minimum tax rate — now law, not a proposal. Here's the reform, the fundamentals it sits on, and the state-by-state costs around it, together, with sources.
Negative gearing and capital gains tax are being reformed
Established properties bought after 12 May 2026 lose unrestricted negative gearing from 2027 — new builds don't. (Australian Government Treasury, verified 11 Aug 2026) The 50% CGT discount is replaced with cost-base indexation and a 30% minimum tax on real gains. Grandfathering rules decide which version applies to you. Read the full reform →
Tax fundamentals for investors
Each guide is grounded in ATO and Treasury sources, cited inline.
Negative gearing and the 2026-27 reform
How negative gearing works today, exactly what changes from 1 July 2027, and whether your own purchase date is grandfathered.
GuideCapital gains tax for investors
The current 50% discount, what replaces it, the main-residence six-year rule, and CGT withholding at settlement.
GuideDepreciation, repairs and deductions
Capital works, the 2017 second-hand-asset trap, repairs vs. improvements, and interest deductibility.
GuideLand tax by state
Every state's land tax threshold and rates, and what the same land value costs each year in each state, with worked examples.
GuideLand tax for investors
Foreign and absentee surcharges, and trust-held land, state by state — including where WA and SA have neither.
GuideVacant land tax and short-stay levies
Victoria's vacant residential land tax and short stay levy, and the ACT's short-term rental levy.
GuideShort-term letting vs long-term renting
An honest, independent comparison of Airbnb-style short-stay letting against a standard long-term lease — the real costs, the owners-corporation ban power, and how regulation differs state to state.
GuideRooming houses and boarding houses as an investment
State-by-state legal definitions, the national building-code threshold, financing reality, the NDIS/SDA conflation risk, and why exit value is capped.
GuideBuilding a granny flat in Victoria
The planning-permit exemption, when VicSmart can fast-track approval to 10 business days, and the building-permit and gas rules that apply either way.
Owning & renting out
Different from the tax guides above — this is the ongoing legal side of actually holding and renting out a property once you own it.
Researching a suburb as an investor
Delora's own suburb research — not a generic reading list.
Victoria's housing targets tracker
Supply context for every council: its official 2051 housing target against the pace of ABS building approvals, month by month.
RankingHighest rental yield suburbs in Melbourne
147 suburbs ranked by gross rental yield, from Cranbourne's 4.2% to Toorak's 0.5% — plus the suburbs combining high yield with strong recent price growth.
RankingMelbourne's most undervalued suburbs
Where observed prices differ most from Delora's modelled fundamentals — modelled market context, not a recommendation.
GuideUndervalued bargain or value trap?
How to tell a genuine pricing gap from a suburb with a structural reason to be cheap.
RankingDid your suburb's apartments beat inflation?
A decade of unit prices vs rents, and what that implies for yield.
RankingMelbourne's affordability cliff
House price expressed as years of local income, across the metro.
ExplainerWhat actually drives Melbourne house prices
The suburb-level factors correlated with price, and their limits as predictors.
Every suburb page also shows modelled price context, rental yield and — new this session — household composition, which signals whether a suburb skews toward the share-house or family-tenant profile an investment property might actually attract.
Check the numbers yourself
Tools that show the rule behind each figure. They are general education, not tax or lending advice.
Land tax and CGT scenario checker
Worked scenarios showing where Victorian land tax, duty and federal CGT give different answers on the same facts.
ToolStamp duty calculator
Stamp duty and the other government costs of buying, state by state, with each rule linked to its source.
ToolBorrowing power calculator
An indicative estimate of what a lender may offer, not a lender assessment.
What this hub doesn't cover
SMSF property investment (limited recourse borrowing, in-house asset rules) — too specialised and high-stakes for general information; talk to a licensed adviser.
Build-to-rent concessions — real, but institutional-scale, not relevant to buying one or two investment properties.
A yield or cash-flow calculator — Delora doesn't offer one, and every figure on this hub is a sourced comparison, not a personal projection. The land tax and CGT scenario checker and the true cost to buy calculator above work through stated rules, not forecasts.
Sources on this page last verified against the primary source each figure cites. What “verified” means