Where to add it
Go to Plan → Balance Sheet → Home & Real Estate and click Add Property. Your properties are grouped into Main Residence and Investment Properties, and the chart on the right projects their value, mortgages and net equity over your plan.
This article is for a property you own today. To buy one in the future, add a Buy Property event in Plan Builder instead.
About this asset
Nickname – a name you'll recognise later, e.g. when you sell or move out. "Unit in Newtown" works better than "Property 2".
Asset Owner(s) – who owns it. Owners share it equally by default. Turn on Custom split if you own it in different shares, e.g. 70/30. For investment properties, Canwi uses this to split rental income, deductions and capital gains tax between owners.
What it's worth
Purchase Price – what the property cost you to buy. Canwi uses this to estimate capital gains tax if you sell.
Purchase Year – the year you bought it.
Current Value – what it's worth at the start of your plan. Not sure? Free estimates from realestate.com.au or domain.com.au are a good starting point (we have no relationship with either).
Dwelling Type – Established or Newly built. This matters for investment properties under the negative gearing changes starting 1 July 2027 (see below).
Growth and income
Annual Growth Rate is how fast you expect the property's value to grow each year. Growth compounds: $100,000 at 5% becomes $105,000 after one year and $110,250 after two.
Enter the headline rate. Don't adjust it for inflation. Canwi does that when you view your plan in Today's Dollars.
Choosing a realistic growth rate
The form shows 10-year average growth rates by city and property type to help you choose. But this is the field most likely to make your plan look unrealistic - particularly if you don't then simulate selling the property, so it's really worth taking the time to think about it.
The most common example: someone's property has grown about 6.5% a year for the last 30 years, so they assume it will do the same for the next 30, while they keep holding it. At 6.5%, a $1 million property becomes about $6.6 million in 30 years (or 3.1m in today's dollars). At 4%, it becomes about $3.2 million (or 1.5m in today's dollars). That gap flows through to your net worth, your Age Pension eligibility and the tax you'd pay if you sold.
Some questions worth asking:
Can the drivers repeat? The Reserve Bank links much of the growth since the 1990s to one-off changes: interest rates falling from double digits to near zero, financial deregulation, and households taking on much more debt relative to income. The CGT and Negative gearing changes have already caused some declines in value.
Can prices keep outgrowing incomes? In the mid-1990s, Australian house prices were around 3 times average annual income. They're much higher now. If your property grows at 6.5% while wages grow at 3.5%, in 30 years it would cost about 2.4 times as many years of income to buy as it does today.
How long will you hold it? The rate you enter should match what you expect over the time you own the property, not over the last 30 years. If you know your suburb well and plan to sell in 5 years, a rate in line with recent growth may be reasonable. The risk is in carrying a high rate across decades. If you plan to sell or move, add an event so Canwi stops growing the property at that point.
Rental Income is the rent the property earns now, and how often (weekly, monthly and so on). Canwi turns this into a Rental Yield Rate: yearly rent as a percentage of the property's value. It then applies that yield to the property's future value, so rent grows with the property.
For example, a $1,000,000 property earning $5,000 a month has a 6% yield. If it grows 3% in a year, next year's rent is based on $1,030,000, which is $5,150 a month.
Rental income is added to the owners' taxable income in line with their ownership share.
Ongoing costs
Once you enter rental income, an Ongoing Costs section appears:
Annual Property Expenses – one yearly total for running costs like council rates, strata, insurance, repairs and property management fees. These come out of your cashflow and are claimed as a tax deduction for the owners.
Annual Depreciation – the yearly tax deduction for wear and tear on the building and fixtures. Canwi uses the prime cost (straight-line) method: the same amount each year. It reduces tax but no cash leaves your account.
End Year – the last year depreciation is claimed. Building depreciation usually runs 40 years from construction.
A quantity surveyor's depreciation schedule gives you the depreciation figure. If your schedule uses the diminishing value method, enter an average.
Your own home won't show this section unless it earns rent. Enter costs like strata and rates for your home as living expenses on the Expenses page.
Mortgage interest isn't entered here. Add the loan on the Debts page and Canwi claims the interest on investment loans for you.
Main residence and usage history
Add how the property has been used since you bought it. This makes Canwi's capital gains tax estimate more accurate when you sell, especially if you've rented out a home you used to live in.
If the property has no history yet, you'll see three quick options:
This is my main residence – you've lived in it since you bought it.
This is an investment property – you've never lived in it.
Add detailed history – it's been both, e.g. you lived there, then rented it out.
You can only have one main residence at a time. If you mark a property as your main residence and another property already is for the same years, Canwi asks whether to replace it. Click Continue to make the new property your main residence for those years, or Cancel to keep the existing one.
For detailed history, click Add detailed history (or + Add Entry once you have history) to open Add Historical Property Usage:
Start Year – when this period began. It can't be before your purchase year.
End Year – the last calendar year of this period. If you moved out during 2023, enter 2023; Canwi assumes you moved out on 31 December. Choose Present if it still applies.
Property Usage – Main Residence or Not Main Residence.
Income generating portion – for a main residence, the share used to earn income, e.g. 20% if you rent out a room or run a business from home. For periods where the property is not a main residence this is a simple toggle. (income generating percentage is used for CGT calculations and the Main Residence exemption)
The Usage Timeline shows each period in colour: Main Residence, Not Main Residence, or Undeclared for any gaps.
Changing a property in your plan
To sell a property or move out in the future, use an event:
Move Home – move out and keep or sell it
Sell Home (House) or Sell Home (Apartment)
Sell Investment Property
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I be providing 'real' or 'nominal' growth rates (i.e. do I need to provide an inflation adjusted return rate)?
Provide the nominal return rate - there's no need for you to adjust for inflation, Canwi will calculate this adjustment for you when you view projected values in Today's Dollars.
What happens if I provide an Growth Rate that's below the Inflation Rate.
The default inflation rate in Canwi is 2.5% (This is adjustable from scenario settings), if you provide a growth rate for your property that's lower than the inflation rate (e.g. you provide a growth rate of 1.8%) when you view the projection / plan in Today's Dollars you'll see the property value decreasing over time. If you view it in Actual Dollars then you'll see the value increasing over time.
What should I enter if I don't know my purchase price?
Your best estimate. Purchase price only matters for capital gains tax, which applies if the property is ever not your main residence: an investment property, a home you later rent out, or one you keep when you move. If it will always be your home, the figure has little effect.
Why does my usage history say "Undeclared"?
There's a gap in your property history between your purchase year and now. Add an entry for that period so Canwi can work out capital gains tax correctly.