Invest
Should we give up on the Australian dream?
Home ownership may not be in the future for many Australians, but that’s driven by choice as well as financial reality, the CEO of a fractional investment service has said.
Should we give up on the Australian dream?
Home ownership may not be in the future for many Australians, but that’s driven by choice as well as financial reality, the CEO of a fractional investment service has said.
According to CoVESTA’s Daniel Noble, the conversation around what Australians want from their homes has returned to utility and choice.
Speaking to Nest Egg, he said buying property won’t be an option for a lot of Australians today, “at least in the capital cities”, due to the sheer financial difficulty.
“The drive for fractional investment isn’t driven by purely a pragmatic need; it's also a cultural and social acceptance of not owning something outright,” Mr Noble said.
“You see that with holiday houses and Airbnb and car shares and the rest of them. They don't need to own stuff to get the utility.”
The Australian approach to home-ownership is a product of post-war capitalism, he argued.
“What we're seeing now is this kind of move back to utility of a home and not being tied into traditional long-term norms of buying a place. It's not because they want it, it's just because it's a reality that we have to navigate,” Mr Noble said.
He said people who rent or travel still want to invest in property, but might not want to or have the ability to put all their savings in. In this instance, he argued fractional investment is a way to access that exposure without losing their lifestyle.
As cities like Sydney and Melbourne reach maximum density, it’s likely to become more prevalent, Mr Noble added.
The problem is for essential workers like teachers, nurses and police officers who can’t make it in with a property purchase.
The Sydney population centre moved east for the first time in more than 200 years last year as high-rise apartment construction took effect, Mr Noble noted.
“Some people go, ‘That's it. I just cannot move further away from infrastructure and services and work’,” he said.
He recounted the story of a 36-year-old nurse who was still house-sharing because of the realities of shift-work.
If a nurse finishes a shift at 4:30am, they’re not going to want to travel for an hour to a home they can afford, Mr Noble explained. The nurse will want to sleep.
“But here's the thing, you can imagine that if you had people who are police or nurses or teachers who go, ‘Look, I've saved $150,000 or $100,000 and I want to buy within a year’, they can put their $50,000 in a year to invest in properties that are going to pay a return, but also allowing them to live close to where their service is provided,” he said.
“It's a great mix of bringing different investment objectives but solving major problems together.”
RELATED ARTICLES
Property
LJ Hooker Lake Macquarie makes a splash with Belmont buy as real estate consolidation looms
LJ Hooker Lake Macquarie’s acquisition of the Belmont office, including its rent roll, is less about shopfronts and more about balance‑sheet resilience. In a market where listings ebb and flow with ...Read more
Property
Twice the demand: the case study behind Melbourne’s first‑home buyer surge
Melbourne has quietly engineered one of Australia’s most consequential housing turnarounds, with first‑home buyer demand running at roughly double the national pace and four of the top five buyer ...Read more
Property
First‑home buyers now anchor Australia’s mortgage growth — but the risk maths is changing
Great Southern Bank’s revelation that nearly one in three of its new mortgages went to first‑home buyers is not an outlier. It is the leading edge of a broader market realignment powered by government ...Read more
Property
Home guarantee scheme shake-up challenges Australia’s housing market players
From 1 October 2025, the expanded Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS) materially widens what first-home buyers can purchase and where. By sharply lifting price caps and relaxing eligibility settings, the ...Read more
Property
GSB’s first‑home buyer play: turning policy tailwinds into market share
Great Southern Bank’s latest results show that nearly one in three of its new mortgages now go to first‑home buyers—evidence of a fast‑moving market reshaped by government guarantees, easing rates and ...Read more
Property
Why investors are fleeing and renters are scrambling in Australia's housing maze
Australia’s rental market is tightening even as individual landlords sell down. New data points to a multi‑year investor retreat tied to higher holding costs and regulatory uncertainty, while prices ...Read more
Property
Australia's 5% deposit guarantee: Unlocking gains while balancing risks in the market share race
Can a bigger government guarantee fix housing access without fuelling prices? Australia is about to find out. The Albanese government’s expanded 5% deposit pathway aims to help 70,000 buyers, remove ...Read more
Property
Australia's bold move the 5% deposit scheme shaking up the housing market
Can a government guarantee replace lenders mortgage insurance without inflating prices or risk? Canberra’s accelerated 5% deposit scheme is a bold demand-side nudge in a supply‑constrained marketRead more
Property
LJ Hooker Lake Macquarie makes a splash with Belmont buy as real estate consolidation looms
LJ Hooker Lake Macquarie’s acquisition of the Belmont office, including its rent roll, is less about shopfronts and more about balance‑sheet resilience. In a market where listings ebb and flow with ...Read more
Property
Twice the demand: the case study behind Melbourne’s first‑home buyer surge
Melbourne has quietly engineered one of Australia’s most consequential housing turnarounds, with first‑home buyer demand running at roughly double the national pace and four of the top five buyer ...Read more
Property
First‑home buyers now anchor Australia’s mortgage growth — but the risk maths is changing
Great Southern Bank’s revelation that nearly one in three of its new mortgages went to first‑home buyers is not an outlier. It is the leading edge of a broader market realignment powered by government ...Read more
Property
Home guarantee scheme shake-up challenges Australia’s housing market players
From 1 October 2025, the expanded Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS) materially widens what first-home buyers can purchase and where. By sharply lifting price caps and relaxing eligibility settings, the ...Read more
Property
GSB’s first‑home buyer play: turning policy tailwinds into market share
Great Southern Bank’s latest results show that nearly one in three of its new mortgages now go to first‑home buyers—evidence of a fast‑moving market reshaped by government guarantees, easing rates and ...Read more
Property
Why investors are fleeing and renters are scrambling in Australia's housing maze
Australia’s rental market is tightening even as individual landlords sell down. New data points to a multi‑year investor retreat tied to higher holding costs and regulatory uncertainty, while prices ...Read more
Property
Australia's 5% deposit guarantee: Unlocking gains while balancing risks in the market share race
Can a bigger government guarantee fix housing access without fuelling prices? Australia is about to find out. The Albanese government’s expanded 5% deposit pathway aims to help 70,000 buyers, remove ...Read more
Property
Australia's bold move the 5% deposit scheme shaking up the housing market
Can a government guarantee replace lenders mortgage insurance without inflating prices or risk? Canberra’s accelerated 5% deposit scheme is a bold demand-side nudge in a supply‑constrained marketRead more
