Published by Mario Conte
Fifteen years ago, I came to Australia. I didn’t speak the language well. I didn’t have money. I had what every migrant has when they get off the plane — the hope that this country would be generous if I worked hard.
It was. Australia let me build a multi-million dollar property portfolio. Not to drive a flashy car or live above my means. To build something for my future. For my kids. The same dream every honest person in this country is chasing, whether they were born here or arrived last week.
On Tuesday night, the Federal Treasurer made that dream significantly harder for the next person trying to do what I did.
I’m Mario Conte. I founded Croid Property four years ago because when English is your second language and you’ve never bought property before, this country is full of people willing to sell you bad advice. Off-the-plan apartments in the city. House-and-land packages in suburbs you’ve never visited. Builders who might not be there in two years. I started Croid to stop that happening to people like me.
Four years in, we’re growing — and we’re growing because clients send us their friends and family. That’s the only kind of growth that matters to me.
In the last 48 hours, I’ve spoken to clients who are scared. One was a first-time investor who pulled out of a contract he signed last week. Others just want to understand whether their plans for the future still make sense. They are not billionaires. They are everyday Australians trying to build wealth slowly, the only way most of us can.
I’m writing this for them. And I want to be honest about one thing first.
I’m fine. My portfolio is grandfathered. The Budget doesn’t really hurt me. I’m not writing this to protect my own wealth. I’m writing it because the people coming after me are the ones who got hit — and the way it’s been sold to Australians is not the truth.
What the Budget actually does
Three things changed on Tuesday.
Negative gearing is gone for any established property bought from now on. If you already own — you’re safe. If you signed a contract before 7:30pm on Tuesday 12 May 2026 — you’re safe, even if you haven’t settled yet. If you buy from now on, you can only claim negative gearing if it’s a brand-new home or apartment.
The 50 per cent capital gains tax discount is being replaced from 1 July 2027 — and not just for property. Shares too. Every Australian with a share portfolio outside super is affected.
Family trusts will pay a minimum 30 per cent tax from July 2028. And the bucket company strategy that thousands of Australian families have used to build wealth — finished. Senior tax lawyers in this week’s Financial Review are openly calling it dead.
That’s the news. Here’s what it actually means.
If you already own — relax
Nothing changes for you. Your negative gearing keeps working. Your capital gains on growth you already have is locked in under the old rules. You don’t need to sell. You don’t need to panic. You don’t need to do anything.
The only conversation worth having is timing. If you were already planning to sell in the next two or three years, the date 1 July 2027 now matters — growth before that date stays under the old rules, growth after moves to the new system. That’s a conversation for your accountant. If you’re a Croid client, it’s a conversation for us too.
If you’re mid-purchase — you’re protected
Signed your contract before Tuesday night? You’re grandfathered for the life of the investment. Signed after? You keep full negative gearing until 30 June 2027, then move to the new rules. Not stranded either way. If you’re not sure where you stand, call us. We’ll talk it through.
If you’re thinking of buying — read this carefully
From 1 July 2027, the only way to claim negative gearing on a new investment is to buy brand-new.
You might think: “fine, I’ll just buy new.” Slow down.
Only a small share of investors were buying new builds before this Budget. There’s a reason. Builders go broke. We’ve seen plenty of that in the last three years. Off-the-plan apartments don’t always deliver what was promised. There’s a developer profit baked into the price. The finished product sometimes doesn’t match the brochure.
Now the government wants everyone who used to buy established property to crowd into the new-build market. Our view: that doesn’t make new builds safer. It makes them more expensive. Developers will see the tax-driven demand coming and price for it.
And here’s the part nobody is talking about. When you buy a new build today, the negative gearing benefit is yours alone. It doesn’t pass to the next person who buys it from you. So when you sell in 5 or 10 years, your “new build” is now an established property, and the next investor gets no negative gearing on it. Your buyer pool shrinks. That’s a problem established-property owners today simply don’t have.
This is the kind of trap I built Croid to keep people out of. The government just made the trap bigger.
On rents — Treasury’s $2 a week is fantasy
The Treasurer says median rents will rise by less than $2 a week. That number doesn’t survive contact with the data.
Rents are already growing at 6 to 7 per cent a year. National vacancy is at 1.0 per cent — the tightest in over a year. Darwin is at 0.3 per cent. Treasury is asking us to believe this market will respond to a major tax change with a $2 rise.
When SQM Research modelled a similar reform in 2019, they forecast capital city rents rising 7 to 12 per cent over three years. Today’s reform is hitting a far tighter rental market. Our view: rents in tight markets will rise 7 to 12 per cent over the next one to two years. On a $500 rental, that’s $35 to $60 a week. Real money for a tenant. A yield improvement for an investor with the right asset.
This was sold as helping renters. It won’t.
On structure — stop and get advice before you sign
For 20 years, the standard playbook had two answers: buy in your own name (for negative gearing against your salary), or buy in a family trust (to split income). Both reasons just disappeared.
Established property in your personal name from 1 July 2027 gets no negative gearing against your salary. Property in a trust from 1 July 2028 pays 30 per cent minimum tax no matter who you distribute to. The bucket company sitting alongside the trust can hit an effective rate of 51 per cent — higher than the top personal rate.
We are buyer’s agents. Not accountants. Not financial advisors. We can’t tell you which structure is right. But if you’re about to buy, pause and have a fresh conversation with your accountant before you sign anything. The conversation you had two years ago is no longer the right one.
The truth nobody in Canberra wants to say
Australia has a housing crisis. Net migration this year is being revised up to 295,000. Vacancy is at 1 per cent. Rents are climbing at twice the pace of wages. Young Australians can’t afford to buy.
The Budget’s answer is to make it harder for the people who actually provide rental housing.
Around a third of Australians live in a privately rented home. Those homes are owned, mostly, by mum-and-dad investors. Not billionaires. Teachers, nurses, tradespeople, retirees. The government has chosen to call these people the problem.
That framing isn’t just unfair — it’s incoherent. You cannot tax the providers of rental housing and then expect more rental housing to appear.
Houses aren’t expensive in Australia because of greedy investors. They’re expensive because we have inflation we haven’t controlled, because we have a debt problem successive governments have refused to tackle, because we keep growing the population faster than we build homes, and because every Treasurer of the last 20 years has found it easier to raise taxes than to fix the underlying problem.
This Budget is more of the same. A government breaking a promise it made to voters 18 months ago, dressed up as compassion for renters and first home buyers — neither of whom it will actually help.
Where this leaves us
If you already own — you’re safe. If you’re mid-contract — you’re protected. If you’re buying next — the rules are different now, and the choice of property and structure matters more than ever.
But here’s the thing I want you to hear most. The market doesn’t stop needing homes. Australia still has a chronic housing shortage. Population is still growing. Property is still one of the most important wealth-building assets available to ordinary Australians.
Uncertainty in the market is exactly when opportunity appears — for the people who think clearly and take advice from someone who is not trying to sell them something.
Don’t panic. Don’t rush. Don’t sign anything in the next two weeks because someone told you to. Sit down for five minutes. Have a real conversation with an expert. Understand the new rules. Then decide whether your strategy still makes sense — and if it doesn’t, what the new strategy needs to be.
That’s the conversation I have every day. If you’d like to have it with me, the first one is on us.
— Mario Conte, Founder, Croid Property Helping everyday Australians build wealth through property — honestly.
