I recently enjoyed a beautiful weekend away with my family at a quaint 1930s cottage in the Royal National Park.

Next door to us was the original pre 1840s cottage built by Charles Gogerly, and is believed to be oldest home in the Sutherland Shire.  Charles owned another two, 22 acre lots which he purchased for a grand total of £85 in 1853 (Sigh…if only) This got me thinking how much 22 acres in Port Hacking, situated right on the water, would be worth today?

The reason I’m sharing is because if you bought a property today, think how much it’ll be worth 166 years  from now! Ok, so you won’t be alive to know much it’ll be worth  but you don’t need to keep the property for 166 years to see real growth. The average growth cycle of property is approximately 10 years, and it makes sense that the longer you keep your property the more it increases in value.

When we look back at the growth stats in Australia beginning in the 1880s-1950s, property values were steady with little to no increase until this shifted heading into the early 1950s. Since then there has been a steady and robust increase in property value, and it’s all due to population growth.

The Australian government launched a new immigration program which for the first time would accept non-British, European immigrants. During 1951 and 1952, they signed agreements to accept Dutch, Italian, Austrian, Belgian, Greek, Spanish and West German immigrants, also know as ‘Wogs’ and the shape of colonialist Australia began to change.

Why is that relevant today? Because immigration and population growth is still what drives our property prices north. Immigration means more people, and more people create demand for housing. The supply for that demand can be seen by recent land releases across the Western Suburbs of Sydney,  apartments being built in the inner ring suburbs of Sydney and the mind blowing amount of excess traffic on Sydney roads.

As long as Australia doesn’t close its doors to immigration (which is highly unlikely) we’ll continue to see steady growth in property prices for many moons to come and just like Charles Gogerly, you can sell your two, 22 acre lots back to the government so they can turn them into national parklands – you just might make a tidy little fortune.

Our favourite holding period is forever. Warren Buffet

Thank you for reading