The cost of waiting: Why new property is becoming a different investment conversation
At Ironfish, we’ve spent more than 20 years building relationships with some of Australia’s leading developers. Those relationships allow us to introduce quality new property opportunities before they’re widely available, and before public release on the leading media & property platforms.
That early access can provide stronger selection, group buying power along with better pricing and value. But early access isn’t the only reason to invest. It’s simply one part of the Ironfish advantage.
At Ironfish, we’ve spent more than 20 years building relationships with some of Australia’s leading developers. Those relationships allow us to introduce quality new property opportunities before they’re widely available, and before public release on the leading media & property platforms.
That early access can provide stronger selection, group buying power along with better pricing and value. But early access isn’t the only reason to invest. It’s simply one part of the Ironfish advantage.
There are times when waiting in property can make sense, like right now if you are looking at purchasing an existing property. But investors need to distinguish between waiting for better market conditions and waiting for a product that is becoming more expensive to produce every day.
For new residential property, and for property investors targeting new property, that distinction matters.
Australia is facing a significant construction challenge. Recent analysis from the National Foundation for Australian Studies (NFAS) found that the country could require an additional 935,000 construction workers by 2035, at the same time as housing and major infrastructure projects nationally compete for constrained labour and construction capacity. The chronic shortage of construction labour (with no end in sight to the problem) will be one of the next decade’s headline issues to address to house the nation.
For investors, the implications are straightforward. Higher labour and infrastructure costs, longer delivery timelines and constrained capacity all feed into the higher replacement cost of new housing, and put simply, paying more for the same property in 6,12 or 24 months’ time.
Nowhere is that tension more relevant than South East Queensland, where significant new housing requirements coincide with the competing infrastructure, investment and major construction projects that must be delivered in the next 6 years leading up to the 2032 Olympics.
Yes, growth creates opportunity, but it also creates competition for the people and resources required to deliver it.
Australia is already facing significant construction labour shortages, rising costs and inflationary pressures. As Queensland accelerates major infrastructure delivery ahead of the 2032 Olympics, the competition for skilled labour will intensify, not only within Queensland, but across state borders as major projects compete for the same workforce.
The implications extend well beyond the 2032 Olympics and well beyond Queensland. This is a national construction issue, with the potential to influence the cost and delivery of new housing across Australia.
New property is simply now operating under different market dynamics to the established property market. For investors considering new property, that distinction is increasingly important, particularly following the May Federal Budget changes. Waiting may feel like the more conservative decision. But when labour, construction and replacement costs continue to rise, the same quality new property may simply cost more to deliver in the future.
For investors who have decided that new property has a place in their strategy, the cost of waiting deserves just as much consideration as the perceived benefit.
After more than 20 years researching property markets nationally, our position at Ironfish remains consistent: new property offers compelling benefits, but not every new property is investment-grade, nor will every property perform equally.
If anything, the environment post-budget demands greater selectivity for property investors. Developer quality, location, land value, supply, rental demand, owner-occupier appeal and the property itself still must stack up and there are many additional factors to look out for when investing in new property.
This is where relationships and access matter. After more than 20 years specialising in new property, Ironfish’s longstanding developer relationships provide pre-retail access to selected opportunities before they reach the wider market, allowing us to carefully curate new property against our research and selection criteria. Not all new property opportunities are equal, with the most compelling ones being secured before they ever reach the broader market.
One example is an opportunity we have coming up, a limited collection of designer terraces within a secure, gated community in an emerging Gold Coast growth location, available exclusively through Ironfish, off-market and ahead of public release.
When the fundamentals align and the right property becomes available, timing matters. Waiting for complete certainty can carry a cost of its own.
The question is no longer simply, “Could conditions improve if I wait?” It is also: “Will the same quality property cost more to create when I’m finally ready to act?”That is a very different investment conversation.
I’ll be exploring this all in greater depth at Ironfish’s only live, in-person Investor Briefing in Perth, sharing the latest data and our national perspective on the forces shaping Australian property markets heading into 2027, with a particular focus on South East Queensland, the investment implications of the 2032 Olympics, and sharing some details of an exclusive off-market, low-density Gold Coast housing opportunity available through Ironfish ahead of public release.
For those unable to join me in Perth, I’ll also be hosting a national Online Investor Briefing, providing a convenient opportunity to hear the same insights and research from wherever you are based.