Direct property is an investment that self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) trustees are likely to consider at some stage. In fact, direct property makes up about 15 per cent of all SMSF assets. This has been the case consistently over many years, even as the total value of assets owned by SMSFs has increased.

The split between commercial and residential direct property has been fairly consistent, too, with about 10 per cent invested in commercial property and 5 per cent in residential (based on published annual ATO statistics).