A Finance blog by Paul Bennion.
Historically, population growth has been a key driver in the property market and one which investors follow closely to determine where is the most opportune place and time to invest in property.
The latest ABS figures for 2013 show that population growth in Australia remains strong with nearly 400,000 persons being added to our overall population last year.
Overall, Australia’s population is now over 23 million persons with demographic figures revealing:
- one birth every 1 minute and 42 seconds
- one death every 3 minutes and 34 seconds
- a net gain of one international migration every 2 minutes and 14 seconds, leading to
- an overall total population increase of one person every 1 minute and 20 seconds
Western Australia continues to enjoy the fastest population growth rate in Australia at 2.9%, followed by Victoria (1.9%) and then Queensland (1.7%). These top three population growth States accounted for more than 60% of Australia’s total population gain last year.
These population trends are mirrored by the tax depreciation reports DEPPRO undertook for property investors last year with Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland showing large increases in investor activity.
In particular, we have found strong demand from investors who had recently migrated to Australia.
This is no surprise when you consider that the latest population figures show that overseas migration accounted for 60% of Australia’s total migration growth last year.
Despite the large number of new migrants buying investment properties, there are still many who do not fully understand the generous tax benefits that they can obtain in Australia. After arriving in Australia, many new migrants to Australia decide to buy investment properties as a way to create wealth without realising that there are generous tax benefits which they can claim relating to property investment in Australia.
For example, the tax laws relating to buying an investment property in the United Kingdom and Australia are very different in areas such as financial benefits relating to negative gearing and depreciation benefits.
In relation to tax deprecation benefits, overseas migrants for example, may not appreciate that the tax benefits obtained through depreciation can be equivalent to 60% of the total purchase price of the property.
If you have recently migrated to Australia and are planning to buy an investment property, you can obtain more information on the benefits of tax depreciation by visiting deppro.com.au
