There was a time when a woman couldn’t get a loan in her name without her husband’s signature. Gone are those days.
Property Council of Australia data shows 47 per cent of Australian investment properties are owned by women, reports Property Update.
Astute women are overcoming the gender pay gap and superannuation shortfalls by investing in property to secure their financial future.
There’s roughly 927,000 women across Australia who own an investment property.
The Property Council is jumping on the data to lobby hard against proposed changes to negative gearing Labor is planning to take to the next Federal Election. Negative gearing allows you to claim investment losses (e.g. if you’re rent doesn’t cover your loan interest payments) as an income tax deduction.
Labor argues this will stop high income earners from using negative gearing tax breaks to fund investments. But many property industry commentators are worried it will also hurt average income Aussies who rely on negative gearing to boost cash flow for property and mortgage costs.
The Property Council of Australia says more than three quarters of women using negative gearing have a taxable income of less than $80,000 a year, with almost 90 per cent of women aged 18-29 years in this category.
Labor plans to “grandfather” the changes which means if you’re already in the market your existing negative gearing rules will apply.
So stay tuned to the election this year to see what it means for investors.
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