How Australian landlords make hundreds of dollars every week, even without tenants

People who own property could earn more than $30,000 a year, if the market is good, just by holding onto their asset for about nine years.

Windfall gains reaped by Australian property sellers have reached a record high, with those who own earning hundreds every week, eclipsing what renters pay to keep a roof over their heads.

The median property resale profit in the September quarter was $295,000 on 95,000 sales.

Those were the highest quarterly gains recorded by real estate data analysts at CoreLogic, which has been tracking resales since the mid-1990s.

Over an average holding period of nine years, that equates to more than $32,700 a year, or about $630 a week, according to data released Wednesday.

It is similar to the national median weekly rent, which reached $627 per week according to CoreLogic data released in May.

Although not everyone is making a profit, the percentage of sellers making losses has fallen to 5%, the lowest level in more than 15 years and a rate not seen since early 2008.

The median loss remained stable at $40,000.

In total, the nearly $34 billion in profits recorded by dealers eclipsed the $270 million in losses.

Amid high demand for housing, sellers were able to hold on to their properties, but some who struggled to meet their mortgages had no other choice, said Eliza Owen, head of research at CoreLogic.

“There are still clearly areas of pain where home sellers are having to offload their property despite weak market conditions or values ​​remaining significantly below previous record highs,” Ms Owen said.

Increases in interest rates in recent years may have contributed to those who suffered a loss being more likely to have held the property for a shorter period of time.

“This may be reflected in the relatively strong rise in homes sold which lasted between two and four years,” Ms Owen said.

The median holding period for loss-making sales was eight years.

Brisbane recorded its second quarter at the top of the company’s Pain and Gain report, with 99.4 per cent of properties resold at a profit, up from 97.4 per cent a year earlier.

The rate of loss-making sales has increased in Darwin and Melbourne.

Units were three times more likely to sell for less than purchase price than homes, which generated a median profit of $345,000, compared to $200,000 for units, consistent with long-term trends.