Over one million apartments in Australia

The data revealed important social trends that will have a significant long term impact on the property investment market according to Paul Bennion, Managing Director of DEPPRO.

Mr Bennion said that apartments accounted for 13.6% of all dwellings in Australia which compared to 13.1% for the 2006 Census.

“More people are residing in apartments due to the fact that a large proportion of our population is now living alone,” Mr Bennion said.

“This trend was highlighted by that fact that the Census stated that some 24.3% or one in four of all households in Australia were comprised of people who lived alone.

“This high number of lone person households is encouraging more investors to purchase higher density homes such as apartments to cater for the growing rental demand these types of homes.”

Mr Bennion said that apartments are also favoured by investors because they are low maintenance and generally deliver higher rental returns than a standard home.

“Over the last five years, DEPPRO has recorded a significant rise in the number of tax depreciation reports for new higher density properties such as apartments throughout Australia,” he said.

“However, it is unfortunate that many first time property investors who purchase apartments and units for investment purposes are still the most common group of investors who fail to obtain the full tax depreciation entitlements.

“These first time investors fail to understand that the tax benefits from depreciation can be just as important as rental income. This is particularly the case with people buying an apartment because one year’s depreciation allowance could be equal to several years of rental income.”