An Ask Property column across the ACM regional network answered a couple whose plans to buy through their self-managed super fund were overtaken by the budget. It cited PIPA Chair Cate Bakos on where investors are moving their capital.
The question
Nina Hendy’s Ask Property column was first published on the 19th of August 2026 and syndicated to more than 60 ACM mastheads. It answered readers who had set up a self-managed super fund on their financial adviser’s recommendation, intending to buy an investment property in a chosen suburb. The budget’s ban on new borrowing by self-managed super funds to buy residential property left them unsure how to proceed.
The column cited the 8.6 per cent fall in new investor loan commitments in the June quarter. It reported Cate Bakos, Chair of PIPA, as saying that many investors are indicating they will redirect capital into shares or superannuation. A large number say they will not buy new property despite the incentive to do so, because they prefer established homes.
The options set out
Mortgage broker Rebecca Jarrett-Dalton of Two Red Shoes described three paths:
- Commercial property inside the fund, which she noted carries longer vacancy periods, different lease terms and different valuation behaviour from residential property.
- Buying the residential property outside the fund, in personal names or through a family trust, subject to personal borrowing capacity.
- Buying residential property inside the fund without a loan, where the fund holds enough cash or liquid assets. As she put it, the rules ban limited recourse borrowing, not residential ownership itself.
Which decisions need licensed advice
The column recommended speaking first with the financial planner about where retirement savings should sit, and then with a mortgage broker about borrowing. Advice about establishing a self-managed super fund, or about how its assets are invested, is regulated financial advice and requires an Australian Financial Services licence. Advice on the selection of a residential property is not regulated in the same way.
For a fund considering any of the three paths, the questions sit on both sides of that line. Whether commercial property, a debt-free residential purchase or a move of assets out of super suits the members’ retirement position is a question for the licensed adviser. Whether a particular property is sound, and at what price, is a question for a property investment adviser. Moving capital out of super, or between ownership structures, also carries tax consequences that should be settled with an accountant before any contract is signed.
Where investors are moving
Ms Bakos’s observation drew on early responses to the PIPA Annual Investor Sentiment Survey, due for release in September. The lending data behind the retreat is covered in investor lending after the budget. For the property side of an SMSF decision, members of the fund can search for a Qualified Property Investment Adviser to work alongside their licensed financial adviser.
Reported by
Nina Hendy, The Canberra Times and the ACM network, 19 August 2026
Syndicated to more than 60 Australian Community Media mastheads, including the Newcastle Herald, Illawarra Mercury and Bendigo Advertiser. PIPA was cited in this coverage and has commented for members and consumers. Copyright in the original article remains with its publisher.
