Nov 5, 2026 · 32 min
Property investors reassess the case after Australia’s budget
Property after the budget: is the investment case changing with Chris Bates & Scott Aggett | FinFest 2026
The debate tests whether property still deserves priority against shares, superannuation and home ownership as prices, rates and incentives change.
- 1Negative gearing and capital growth no longer make every investment property compelling as entry prices and borrowing costs rise.
- 2Unregulated advice, aggressive buyer’s-agent pitches and risky new developments can obscure the difference between a sound asset and a sales story.
- 3The right decision depends on financial capacity, asset quality and long-term goals rather than market timing or suburb hype.
Don't miss
Bates and Aggett reject simplistic suburb-hotspot advice, arguing that an individual’s finances and the specific property matter more than a market slogan.
The brief
Chris Bates and Scott Aggett open a live FinFest debate on whether Australia’s traditional investment-property strategy survived the budget, with negative gearing, capital growth and rising prices under scrutiny.
The speakers warn that property advice is often lightly regulated, making aggressive buyer’s-agent pitches, high fees and herd-driven market timing especially dangerous for investors.
New apartments and developments become a test case: tax and depreciation incentives may attract buyers, but scarcity, maintenance and long-term performance matter more than the sales pitch.
The discussion widens to interest rates, mortgage exposure and the outlook through 2036, rejecting both an automatic crash narrative and the idea that property always wins.
Their practical conclusion is deliberately personal: buy a home, pause expansion, renovate or choose shares and superannuation according to capacity, asset quality and long-term goals.
What was said on this episode
9 statements · 1 positive · 7 negative · 1 neutral
The property market will never be regulated.
“They'll never regulate the property market.”
Listen at 8:34
Investors should challenge why agents promote assets and assess their downside risks.
“So you've got to really be smart enough to say, OK, great. Well, why are they pushing this particular asset in this location? Why is that going to work for me? What are the downside risks of doing that as well?”
Listen at 9:27
Investors should question weak historical growth in promoted property markets.
“So what you should be asking is, well, why haven't a lot of those markets seen any growth over the last three, five, 10-year Australian property market bull run?”
Listen at 10:03
Scott Aggett will not provide commercial-property advice despite industry experience.
“I've sold property for 23 years in Australia and London. I've sold commercial property. I've owned commercial property before. My 30 years in the industry, I am not a commercial. expert and I will not give any advice on commercial property”
Listen at 10:30
Property influencers can steer the investment narrative to suit themselves.
“Whoever's got the best short video reels, content, whoever's got the loudest voice and the biggest platform is able to move the narrative into where it suits them.”
Listen at 11:25
High buyer-agent fees help sustain agents’ cash-flow businesses and market momentum.
“And to get a heaving cash flow business, you need a lot of you pumping up their tires and a lot of $20,000 buyer's agent fees that allows them to continue to buy and continue to have that momentum in the market.”
Listen at 11:45
Melbourne apartments are currently the easiest property product for agents to sell.
“the easiest sell is melbourne apartments”
Listen at 12:48
The commercial property market is small.
“the commercial property market is tiny”
Listen at 12:51
Commercial property assets carry tenant and vacancy risks.
“It's the riskier assets, the tenant risk, the vacancy risk.”
Listen at 12:57
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
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