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At LongView, our core business is managing your property well. Our desire is to manage your property for as long as needed. So when owners ask us whether they should sell or hold in 2026, our honest answer is almost always the same: slow down, and look at the whole picture before you do anything.
The recent Federal Budget changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing have understandably triggered lots of “should I sell?” questions. We covered those in detail in What the Federal Budget Means for Your Investment Property. But a tax headline is rarely a good reason to sell a sound asset. And for Melbourne owners in particular, the timing argument right now cuts the other way.
Melbourne is not in a cycle that rewards selling
The numbers tell the story plainly. Over the past five years Melbourne dwelling values have risen just 5.8%, while the same period delivered 84% in Brisbane, 77% in Adelaide and 92% in Perth. If you bought a property five years ago in Melbourne it has gone almost nowhere in, while it has nearly doubled in Perth and Brisbane.
|
Capital city |
Value growth, past 5 yrs |
$750,000 property 5 yrs ago is now worth |
Current position |
|
Melbourne |
+5.8% |
$793,500 +$43,500 gain |
2.3% below its March 2022 peak |
|
Sydney |
+21.4% |
$910,500 +$160,500 gain |
1.0% below its November 2025 peak |
|
Brisbane |
+84.0% |
$1,380,000 +$630,000 gain |
At a record high |
|
Adelaide |
+77.4% |
$1,330,500 +$580,500 gain |
At a record high |
|
Perth |
+92.1% |
$1,440,750 +$690,750 gain |
At a record high |
Source: Cotality Home Value Index, April 2026. The $750,000 example tracks each city’s capital-city index and is illustrative only — individual properties will vary.
If you already own, you hold something you can’t get back
This is the point most easily missed. If you bought before budget night, your property is grandfathered your negative gearing stays fully intact, and you keep the 50% CGT discount on all growth up to 1 July 2027. Sell, and those benefits are gone for good. That’s a real cost to factor in alongside the gain itself, and it’s why the disposal of any grandfathered property deserves careful thought rather than a reaction to a headline.
Your real options there are more than two
The choice is rarely just “sell or hold.” For most owners it sits across five options, set out on the next page. The right one turns on the property’s actual future return and your own circumstances not a recent tax change or a difficult tenancy.
Your options at a glance
|
Your option |
When it fits best |
What to weigh up |
|
1. Keep as-is |
- Land-rich property in a good location - Rents holding or rising; holding costs manageable - No clearly better use for the capital, which is the default position for most owners now |
- Selling permanently ends negative gearing and the 50% CGT discount on growth to 1 July 2027 - Melbourne’s five-year underperformance means you may be exiting near a cyclical low |
|
2. Improve the asset |
- Sound fundamentals and good land - A dwelling that’s dated, tired, or under-performing - Compliance upgrades due, insulation, fixed heating, draught-proofing by March 2027 |
- Does the spend pay for itself in higher rent or lower vacancy? - Strong rental pocket: often recovers in 12–18 months - Bundle compliance and improvement into one tradie visit |
|
3. Restructure the debt |
- Cash-flow pressure driven by financing, not the property itself - A loan still structured from the low-rate era |
- Not refinanced since rates rose? You may be paying well above today’s rate - Rebalancing can cut debt against a weaker asset - Strengthens your overall position without leaving the asset class |
|
4. Release equity without new debt — LongView’s HomeFlex |
- You want to free up capital, whether to cut debt, renovate, or meet a life need - You don’t want more repayments, more interest, or a refinance |
- Now available on investment properties - Access equity today for a share of future growth - No interest, no monthly repayments, no refinance - You stay on title; buy out or settle on sale or whenever else you choose |
|
5. Sell — a considered last resort |
- Fundamentals genuinely against you, poor property with fundamentals that are unlikely to change - Yield structurally eroded by land tax and compliance - Major capex the market won’t reward - Or a specific, clearly better use for the capital |
- If it’s the right call, our Vendor Advocacy service runs the agent, campaign and negotiation for the best net result - Mind the grandfathering “use it or lose it” point, and Melbourne’s soft cycle |
The option most owners don’t know about: HomeFlex on investment properties
Many of our landlords are already familiar with LongView’s Homes Investment Fund. Fewer are aware of the product that fund was created to finance, our innovative home equity release, HomeFlex, and until recently it has only been available on Owner Occupied homes.
HomeFlex lets you release equity today in exchange for a share of the property’s future growth, with no interest, no monthly repayments and no refinance. You remain solely on title, and you settle when you sell or by buying out the share whenever it suits you. That makes it a genuine alternative to a debt-funded equity release or a top-up loan. Clients use HomeFlex to reduce debt, fund a renovation, or meet whatever needs funding in life right now, without adding to your monthly outgoings or your interest bill.
To date, LongView has helped more than 200 clients release equity this way in the last 18 months alone. And in the post-Budget context it carries a particular advantage, releasing equity from a grandfathered property lets you access capital without triggering a sale, so you keep the negative gearing and CGT benefits you would otherwise forfeit.
For a no-obligation assessment, reach out to our team.