No one knows how much longer Australia can be called “the lucky country”, but its track record for real estate has been truly remarkable. Since the global financial crisis, the country has recorded 34 quarters of positive annual returns based on MSCI’s The Property Council/IPD Australia All Property Index (see chart for this index, page 17). And that same Australian index has outperformed MSCI’s IPD Global Annual Property Index in 16 of the past 17 years, according to Bryan Reid, vice president, real estate solutions research for MSCI (see “Australia vs global total returns, 2001–2017”, page 18).

The Australia All Property Index measured an annual 11.7 percent total return through second quarter 2018, which shows remarkable stability; the five-year total return also comes in at 11.7 percent.

But caution signs are in view. Falling residential prices in Sydney and Melbourne are not expected to be a short-term blip. And while Australia’s recent total-retur