Celebrate Women’s Week by considering investment property

This week, Queensland is celebrating Women's Week, on the back of International Women's Day on Monday and International Women's History Month all through March. There are still concerns over the parity between men and women in the workplace, but Australia is slowly getting better.

While gender gaps are prevalent in many of the industries around the country, there is a positive trend emerging in business. But why does that point towards investing in property?

Women making strides

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Queensland (CCIQ) has found that 34 per cent of business operators are women, and projections only show a further increase. Pushing aside the fact that women are often underpaid in the corporate world, they have started to open their own businesses and made a real mark on the Australian marketplace.

Roy Morgan Research suggests that while 9.9 per cent of men in the 'professional' sphere earn more than $200,000 annually, only 3.3 per cent of women are in the same boat. Moving down the pay scale even further reveals that the trend is more prominent at the lower echelon. Salaries between $60,000 and $69,999 are earned by 13.5 per cent of women but only 8.2 per cent of men.

"There is no logical reason why women and men employed full-time in the same occupation should be paid different salaries," commented CEO of Roy Morgan Research Michele Levine.

CCIQ Policy Advisor Catherine Pham believes that women are growing in business at a faster rate than men.

"There has been a 46 per cent increase in the number of women business operators over the past two decades, almost twice that of men," stated Ms Pham.

"This is something that Australia can be proud of, and certainly something to celebrate going into Queensland Women's Week."

However, research points out that less than 60 per cent of women are in the Australian workforce, while for their male counterparts that number is much higher, coming in above 70 per cent even though more women are completing tertiary education.

"With the national gender pay gap steeply rising since 2004 and now sitting at 17.3 per cent, it is no surprise that women are rejecting the corporate world and choosing to go out on their own," continued Ms Pham.

"Innovation and technology have meant more women than ever are in a position to go into business on their own, from home, without the need for bricks-and-mortar office and huge capital investment."

In fact, the job market on the Gold Coast is thriving and it could be a fantastic place for an investor to live in order to maintain their rentals.

Individual opportunities opening up

It's fantastic news that women are rising on their own terms in the business world, and that should encourage more and more people to get involved. If they do, the results would be astronomically beneficial.

"Increasing female participation in the workforce by just six per cent is estimated to increase the size of the Australian economy by about $25billion a year," suggested Ms Pham.

A stronger female workforce could lead to more women looking at building themselves a property portfolio. Real estate in Surfers Paradise might well be the most attractive option for investors.

We recently had a look at how great Surfers Paradise property was to buy, and that could be a good foot in the door for any new investors. A popular tourist hotspot with a high demand for rentals means capital gains and solid yields are not just possible, but likely.

Get in touch with the experts at Ray White Surfers Paradise to see how they can help to get you on the property ladder and building your portfolio.