A Year in Review: What We Predicted, What Played Out and What the Biggest Risk is in 2026

Looking back on the last year’s worth of articles we’ve published, one truth cuts through everything we discussed this year:

The greatest danger for investors is not the market; it’s a lack of knowledge.

Across every topic we covered, from interest rates, rental pressures, housing supply,and  strategy, to investor psychology, planning reforms, and shifting market behaviour, we kept coming back to the same core message:

If you understand the fundamentals, you can make smart decisions in any market.

If you don’t, you risk missing the very opportunities that could change your financial future.

If you only read one article before the new year, make it this one, or bookmark it now and come back to it when you have time over the break, because these insights will set you up for a far more informed and successful 2026.

Over the past 12 months, the fundamentals we’ve been educating on have played out exactly as we explained they would.

Here’s the true story of this year as told through our own articles and predictions.

1. Interest Rates & RBA Decisions: Outdated Tools, Predictable Consequences

Across the year we unpacked why the RBA’s decisions were based on outdated models and how their decisions ripple through the property market, long before everyone else noticed.

Some of the key articles included:

• We Called It Earlier: Outdated Levers, Modern Consequences examined why traditional decision-making frameworks were no longer fit for purpose.
• Why Sensational Headlines Don’t Tell the Real Property Story reminded investors how short-term noise distracts from structural forces.
• RBA Drops Rates – What This Means for Property Investors broke down the implications of rate cuts and why strategy matters now more than ever.
• A New Era of Instability and the Asset Built to Endure It drew the connection between broader instability and housing as a foundational asset class.

Throughout these pieces, we explained that:

• Pent-up demand was quietly building, not disappearing.
• Interest rates eventually moved lower but rate relief did not magically fix affordability.
• The real opportunity was in understanding what rate changes signal, not just the headline number itself.

2. The Expanding Housing Crisis: No Quick Fix, Just Clear Signs

Much of the year’s commentary was centred on the structural shortage of housing, not as a future risk but something already shaping prices and rents.

Our standout articles included:

• The Housing Crisis Needs More Investors, Not Less, which dismantled the idea that investors are a “problem” and highlighted why supply issues matter.
• Draft Planning Scheme Released: Investors, Here’s What You Need to Know explained the planning realities that shape development pipelines.
• Policy Progress in Noosa Underscores Bigger Regional Challenges contextualised incremental policy shifts and their real impact.

Across these and other insights, we consistently explained that:

• Housing undersupply isn’t cyclical, it’s structural.
• Government policy often influences demand more than supply.
• Solutions take years, not weeks.

That’s exactly what we saw unfold: vacancy rates remained tight, and rental demand continued to push upward across major markets.

3. Rental Markets & First Home Buyer Policy: Misunderstood Dynamics

One of the most educational themes this year was explaining the drivers behind rent growth rather than just reporting the numbers.

Key education pieces included:

• Why Rent Growth Is Guaranteed – And Why First Home Buyer Policy Is Driving It, which explained why rent pressures are structural and ongoing.
• Time to Grow Up: Why the Sunshine Coast is the Smart Investor’s SEQ Play, reinforced how regional dynamics drive both price and rental outcomes.

These pieces showed that:

• Rental growth is the product of supply shortfalls meeting elevated demand.
• First Home Buyer incentives increase competition without expanding stock.
• Investors who understand these mechanics can position themselves ahead of the market.

4. Strategy Over Headlines: The Message We Reinforced Most Often

If there was one theme that appeared in more articles than any other this year, it was:

Strategy comes before property. Headlines are noise.

Our most strategic articles included:

• Why Strategy Comes Before Property: a foundational lesson for smart investment.
• Beyond Due Diligence was taking diligence further into true strategic clarity.
• True Crime, Fake News and Real Property Strategy cut through noise with practical focus.
• Top 3 Tips No One Else Will Tell You distilled practical takeaways for everyday investors.

Across these pieces we taught that:

• sequence matters more than timing
• clarity beats emotion every time
• long-term fundamentals always outrun short-term headlines

5. The Sunshine Coast: Not a Hotspot; a Structural Investment Market

We continued to build on our decade-long research into the Sunshine Coast, emphasising that its investment case is structural, not speculative.

Highlighted articles included:

• Confluence: 4 Game-Changing Projects Reshaping the Sunshine Coast explained how multiple structural forces align.
• Smaller Homes, Bigger Picture detailed the “missing middle” demand trend.
• Where Smart Investors Are Buying in 2025 gave strategic positioning for the year ahead.

These articles reinforced:

• long-term population and economic growth
• constrained land supply driven by geography and policy
• high rental demand tied to amenity and employment drivers

6. What We Said at the Start of the Year Has Played Out

Here’s what we forecast at the beginning of 2025, all of which unfolded exactly as expected:

✔ The housing crisis would expand, not stabilise.

✔ There would be no rapid policy fix.

✔ Interest rates would move lower over time, reigniting competition.

✔ Property prices would rise, especially in constrained regions.

✔ Rent pressures would remain intense.

✔ The Sunshine Coast would outperform based on fundamentals.

Not because of luck, because the fundamentals never lied.

Your Biggest Risk in 2026? A Lack of Knowledge.

Everything we’ve written this year was designed for one purpose:

To give you clarity in a market full of noise.

As the year closes, we encourage you to make the most of the weeks ahead:

✔ Bookmark this article and revisit our insights from 2025

✔ Absorb our free Investor Guides over the Christmas break

When our team returns in early 2026, we’re ready to help you:

• map out your strategy
• build your action plan
• and position yourself ahead of the next wave of opportunity.

Your future success will be shaped by the knowledge you build now.

Let’s make 2026 the year you invest with clarity, confidence and strategy.