New Build Investment Property on the Sunshine Coast

What the 2026 Act changes, and what it leaves alone

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 (No. 49, 2026) received Royal Assent on 26 June 2026. Schedule 2 of it is titled "Limit negative gearing for residential property to new builds". That's the Act's own heading, not our summary of it.

Here's what it does. From the 2027-28 income year, losses on an established residential investment property bought after 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 can only be deducted against other income from residential property, including capital gains. Any excess carries forward to later years. The deduction still exists. It just has to wait for residential property income to soak it up.

Already own one? Property held at the 12 May 2026 announcement is grandfathered. The Treasurer's second reading speech says it plainly: "Properties held at announcement will be allowed to be negatively geared in future years until sold."

Nothing changes for the current income year. Deductibility this year is unchanged.

The ATO's guidance says Schedule 2 covers residential property held by individuals, partnerships, companies and most trusts. Commercial property and other assets such as shares sit outside it. So do widely held trusts and super funds, including SMSFs.

Schedule 1 of the same Act does something separate and is worth knowing about. It replaces the 50% capital gains tax discount for individuals, trusts and partnerships with cost base indexation and a 30% minimum tax rate, applying to gains that accrue after 1 July 2027.

• 26 June 2026. Royal Assent for the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 (No. 49, 2026).
• 7:30pm AEST, 12 May 2026. The acquisition trigger. Property held before that moment is grandfathered.
• 2027-28 income year. The negative gearing limit starts.
• 1 July 2027. Schedule 1's capital gains tax changes apply to gains accruing after this date.
• Last reviewed 5 August 2026.

What nobody can tell you yet, including us

This is where most pages selling new builds go quiet. The legal test for what counts as a new build isn't final. Treasury's Tranche 2 consultation on the capital gains tax and negative gearing legislation is open until 21 August 2026, so the test can still move. Anyone telling you today exactly which properties qualify is guessing.

The Treasurer's second reading speech gives examples rather than a definition. It names dwellings constructed on vacant land, and existing properties demolished and replaced with a greater number of dwellings. It also names build-to-rent developments. Those are examples of what the policy is aimed at. The legal test itself is still being drafted.

Two more things we're leaving off this page on purpose. How the Act treats death or a relationship breakdown, because that sits at exposure draft stage only. And any Sunshine Coast median price, rental yield, vacancy rate or growth rate, because we couldn't source one from a government or industry body as at 5 August 2026. The local figures you'll see quoted on this search come from mortgage broker blogs.

We'd rather tell you the date the answer arrives than invent the answer. Check back after 21 August 2026. This page gets updated when the rules do.

Where the Sunshine Coast is actually building new homes

Sunshine Coast Council forecasts the region's population to grow to over 540,000 people by 2046, and the region to need a total of over 234,000 dwellings. Council cites the Queensland Government's 2023 population projections and its 2023 household and dwelling projections for both figures.

Not a standing start, either. The same council page records the region growing by over 79,000 people between 2011 and 2021, adding over 2,450 dwellings and 2,500 households a year across that decade.

Some of that future supply already has a boundary drawn around it, and both areas sit south of Caloundra.

Neither Priority Development Area hands you a finished house. What they tell you is where the state expects new dwellings to go, and roughly when. If you're buying new on the Sunshine Coast partly because of the 2027 change, that's the map to read before the brochure.

• Caloundra South PDA. Economic Development Queensland lists it at 2,323.5ha between the Bruce Highway to the west and Bells Creek Arterial to the south, planned for approximately 20,000 dwellings and 15,000 jobs. Declared 28 October 2010, development scheme commenced 8 October 2011, last amended 28 February 2025.
• Aura. Invest Sunshine Coast, the council's investment arm, describes Aura as being established on 2,310 hectares south of the existing Caloundra urban area, planned for approximately 20,000 dwellings and around 50,000 people, and names it a Priority Development Area declared by the Queensland Government.
• Halls Creek PDA. Declared by regulation on 17 July 2026. It covers 1,231ha at Coochin Creek, south of Bells Creek Arterial Road and approximately 6.6km south-west of Caloundra. Economic Development Queensland says it supports up to 12,000 new homes for around 30,000 people, subject to infrastructure, with an early release area planned for approximately 1,000 homes.
• Halls Creek timing. The interim land use plan took effect on 17 July 2026. Public notification of the proposed development scheme is anticipated to begin in September 2026.

What a brand-new build can claim at tax time that a second-hand one can't

The ATO rule that catches people out is the one on second-hand depreciating assets. Deductions for their decline in value in a residential rental are generally unavailable. You can only claim them if you bought the asset before 7:30pm on 9 May 2017 and installed it in the rental property before 1 July 2017.

New property gets an exception. If you acquire a newly built residential property from a developer, or a substantially renovated one, you can claim a deduction for decline in value of a depreciating asset in it where nobody was previously entitled to a deduction for that asset.

Capital works is a separate deduction again. Under Division 43 of the ITAA 1997, residential property where construction started after 15 September 1987 is deductible at 2.5% a year spread over 40 years. It can only be claimed once construction is fully complete, and only while the property is rented or genuinely available for rent on commercial terms.

We're not putting a dollar figure on any of that. What you can claim depends on the build, the fit-out and your own tax position, and we don't give tax advice. A quantity surveyor prepares the schedule and your accountant applies it.

New builds in Queensland also sit behind the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme. QBCC's published limits: structural defects covered for 6 years and 6 months, non-structural defects covered for 6 months from completion, with any claim to be made within 7 months of completion. Diarise your handover date against those windows. The non-structural one closes quickly.

Where we source, where we manage, and who pays us

FAA Property Pty Ltd is a licensed Queensland real estate agency, Office of Fair Trading licence 4220395, current to 5 June 2027. That licence permits us to act for buyers. Section 26 of the Property Occupations Act 2014 (Qld) covers buying and negotiating for a client for reward, and Queensland has no separate buyer's-agent licence class.

Now the part you should know before you read anything else we've written. FAA Property earns a commission from builders and developers when a property purchase proceeds. The strategy session itself costs you nothing. Because we're paid by the supply side, you should weigh our recommendations with that in mind.

We source new-build, house-and-land and off-market investment property across South East Queensland. As at 5 August 2026, our own for-sale listings are in Meridan Plains, Battery Hill, Nirimba and Caloundra West, inside the southern growth corridor this page is about, and one of them describes itself as being in Aura Estate. None of those four is advertised as new construction, so please don't read them as new-build examples.

Managing is a different claim and we keep it separate. FAA Property manages residential investment property across the Sunshine Coast from our Maroochydore office, including Maroochydore, Buderim, Sippy Downs and Nirimba. One office, no branches. Suite 3-7, Level 5, Tower 2, 55 Plaza Parade, Maroochydore QLD 4558, phone (07) 5327 3469.

What management covers: leasing, tenant placement, routine inspections, rent arrears management, maintenance coordination and rent reviews. Maintenance requests go through the Tapi tenant portal rather than an inbox.

How to check a Sunshine Coast new build before you commit

Buying new here right now means buying into a rule that isn't finished being written. That's workable. It just means checking dates rather than brochures.

Then run the holding costs. A new build on the right side of a tax rule can still be the wrong purchase if the numbers don't work, and the numbers are the only part of this you can test before you sign.

• Get the contract, settlement and completion dates in writing, then check them against the 2027-28 start and the 7:30pm 12 May 2026 acquisition trigger.
• Ask your accountant to confirm the specific property meets the new-build test as it stands once Treasury's Tranche 2 consultation closes on 21 August 2026.
• Check whether the address sits inside a declared Priority Development Area and which development scheme applies. Halls Creek's proposed scheme hasn't been through public notification yet, and Economic Development Queensland expects that to begin in September 2026.
• Diarise the QBCC windows at handover. Structural cover runs 6 years and 6 months. Non-structural runs 6 months from completion, with the claim due within 7 months.
• Book the depreciation schedule with a quantity surveyor before your first tax return on the property, not after it.
• Get licensed tax advice on your own position. We can tell you what the rule says. We can't tell you what it does to your return.