Holly Nebauer is waiting for a call from a real estate agent as her daughter, three-year-old Indy, plays at her ankles.
The 31-year-old and her fiance are hoping to secure their forever home in Bungendore, about 40 kilometres out of Canberra.
It will be the third property the couple has bought since 2020, having sold their first one. They expect to list their current house on the market soon.
Their first home, a two-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse in Canberra's north, cost $466,000 at the start of the pandemic and sold for almost $200,000 more a year-and-a-half later.
Ms Nebauer says she invested in the share market as a way to buy property and is now coaching her younger sister to do the same, despite federal budget changes to the capital gains tax and negative gearing.
A flat 50 per cent discount on capital gains will be removed from July 2027 and replaced with an indexed, inflation-based discount, with a minimum tax of 30 per cent.
The Albanese government has been criticised for breaking election promises with the changes.
The decision to include investments, not just housing, took Ms Nebauer by surprise.
"But we knew as a society that something had to change," she told AAP.
"I imagine I'll still be making more on my investments than I would be if I had all my money sitting in the bank."
The chief executive of investment company Raiz, Brendan Malone, said the government's proposed changes would still allow young Australians to make money if they do not panic and consider shifting their investments.
He expects more activity in dividend-paying stocks, which are likely to perform better than high-growth stocks. They may even perform better than they did under the prior discount.
"Being in the market, no matter what the market does, will put you in a much better position over time," Mr Malone said.
