The SPHERE Framework
How Oli Property selects investment grade locations - and why each pillar is important.
Oli Property’s SPHERE framework was designed to go further
Developed from observing property performance over 70 years - not a single cycle, but every cycle - SPHERE is Oli Property's proprietary five-pillar research framework. It analyses every location/property against fundamental economic drivers to determine how a property will perform over a 15-year period.
That layered research is critical. Markets change. Policy shifts. Infrastructure gets delayed.
Oliver Hume has voyaged through every major property cycle since the 1950s - from the 1960’s Mining Boom, Record High Interest Rates, 1980s to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and 2020 Covid Pandemic. We’ve weighed it all up, we’ve learnt, and we’ve got through every major property cycle, ready to show you how to secure your financial future for your family and your retirement. And prosper, every step of the way.
Oli Property’s SPHERE framework was designed to go further
Developed from observing property performance over 70 years - not a single cycle, but every cycle - SPHERE is Oli Property's proprietary five-pillar research framework. It analyses every location/property against fundamental economic drivers to determine how a property will perform over a 15-year period.
That layered research is critical. Markets change. Policy shifts. Infrastructure gets delayed.
Oliver Hume has voyaged through every major property cycle since the 1950s - from the 1960’s Mining Boom, Record High Interest Rates, 1980s to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and 2020 Covid Pandemic. We’ve weighed it all up, we’ve learnt, and we’ve got through every major property cycle, ready to show you how to secure your financial future for your family and your retirement. And prosper, every step of the way.
Why Data Centres are becoming a hot trend in property investment
Led by Chief Economist Matt Bell, the Oli Property research team analyses thousands of data points across the 5 SPHRE Pillars to identify properties with the greatest potential for sustained long-term growth. This approach helps us recommend opportunities that align with our clients’ objectives, with a focus on economic resilience and sustainable value creation.
Oliver Hume is one of Australia's few privately owned property advisory firms, trusted by government bodies and ASX 200 companies for independent, expert guidance aimed at optimising property investment outcomes.
SPHERE is Oli Property's proprietary research framework. It is a constructed, five pillar methodology used to assess each property - before any recommendation is put forward.
When all five pillars align, we can help you pay off your mortgage up to 15 years faster and show you how to structure your finances to buy new property so that you can invest those years into building your wealth with confidence.
Michael and Sarah came to Oli Property in 2021 with $180,000 in usable equity in their Sydney home and no clear path to making it work harder. Like many owner occupiers, they had wealth sitting idle - but no framework for deploying it safely.
Using SPHERE, our team identified a growth corridor in South-East Queensland where population growth was running well ahead of housing supply, infrastructure investment was committed and funded, and rental demand was structurally supported by a nearby university and emerging employment node. The suburb scored across all five pillars, not one or two.
Three years on, Michael and Sarah's investment property is positively geared, their mortgage offset has increased by $40,000, and they are on track to pay off their primary residence seven years sooner than their original projection.
They did not get lucky. They made a structured decision, backed by research.
Michael and Sarah's story
From equity to investment
What SPHERE stands for
Each letter represents one pillar of our research methodology:
Pillar
What it measures
The volume of housing stock available now and coming to market
S - Supply
Where people are moving and why demand is building
P - Population Growth
The underlying health and performance of the local market
H - Housing Dynamics
Infrastructure investment that makes a location more liveable over time
R - Resources
The economic anchors that attract and retain long-term residents
E - Employment & Education
The five pillars – starting with Supply
S - Supply
Samantha Healy from The Courier-Mail puts it: “Land prices surge as demand outstrips supply” (source). We tend to agree with this at Oliver Hume, supply is the primary driver of price growth.
At Oliver Property, we agree - supply is the primary driver of price growth.
(But supply doesn’t exist in isolation. It only becomes powerful when viewed alongside demand.)
We monitor supply risk at every level – from micro to macro. From macro housing starts across capital cities to building approvals at a suburb level to new communities that reveal future land release timing and volume.
What we analyse:
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Capital city supply: Macro trends in housing starts and completions across major markets.
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Local Government Area and suburb approvals: Granular tracking of local building activity to identify areas of constraint.
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New communities: We examine future suburb release timing and volume to identify areas at risk of oversupply before it occurs.
P - Population Growth
Supply only matters in the context of demand. As our Chief Economist, Matt Bell, notes aligning with Housing Australia long term housing demand is fundamentally driven by population growth and the rate of household formation.
Given this, we identify growth regions where the number of residents is outpacing the available housing stock - and where that trend is supported by data led insights.
What we analyse:
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Historical and forecast data: Where people are moving now, and where the population is projected to be in 10 years.
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Internal migration patterns: Movement of residents from high-density cities toward lifestyle or regional hubs.
Supply-demand delta: The measurable gap between new residents and new dwellings at a local level - the clearest signal of genuine housing pressure.
H - Housing Dynamics
This pillar focuses on housing dynamics within a local property market. It could examine how population migration to particular suburbs or regions across Australia affects house prices in different suburbs or how Days on the Market affect supply. Housing dynamics indicate how a suburb is positioned for both long-term capital appreciation and reliable rental income.
We look for a healthy property market - not overheated and not stale - it's a balance that shows you how to secure your financial future for your family and your retirement. And prosper, every step of the way.
What we analyse:
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Market composition: Owner-occupier-to-investor ratio. High owner-occupancy typically signals better property maintenance and lower price volatility.
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Liquidity metrics: Days on market (DOM) and current inventory levels, whether getting snapped up in a couple of weeks or over 100 days on the market. https://www.realestate.com.au/insights/100-days-or-more-where-homes-languish-longest-on-the-market/
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Performance benchmarks: 10-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and historical vacancy rates - the clearest indicators of long-term track record.
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Affordability and local income: Household income benchmarked against state and national averages, to confirm that rental growth is sustainable over time.
R - Resources
Infrastructure investment is often a catalyst for long-term property success. That could be interconnected train lines or transport links, parks, and local amenities. Public and private spending in a region brings residents in and keeps them there.
We assess existing amenities, planning, and management. Future-focused infrastructure can attract residents and support population growth.
What we analyse
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Connectivity: Existing and proposed road, rail, and bus networks – the practical backbone of a liveable location.
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Healthcare: New or upgraded hospitals and medical precincts, which are significant long-term employment and population anchors.
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Lifestyle and amenity: Proximity to major retail, green space, and community recreation – features that make residents choose to stay.
E - Employment & Education
Wealth follows work and education. Locations anchored by diverse employment and quality education infrastructure attract stable, long-term residents - the kind that support both capital growth and consistent rental demand.
What we analyse
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Employment hubs: Proximity to established employment hubs and emerging industrial or technology employment nodes.
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Future job growth: Regions designated for government-backed job creation - a structural driver of long-term population movement.
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Education infrastructure: Access to primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions (universities and TAFEs), which drive family demand and create reliable student rental markets.
What this means for you
When you invest through Oli Property, every location recommendation has been assessed against all five SPHERE pillars. You will never be presented with a single data point as justification for a recommendation.
We share our methodology because transparency is central to how we work. Our role is to help you understand not just what we recommend, but why - so you can invest with genuine confidence.
