The next tsunami of bad news to hit the Australian property sector will be property trust collapses and the sacking of more than 65,000 people across the country, more dividend cuts and asset deflation as the knock-on effects of the global financial crisis feed into mining and commercial and residential property.

The Housing Industry Association estimates that at the end of November there were 984,500 people employed in property, including construction and development.

This was down 15,000 from a decade high of a million people in August.

The HIA's Harley Dale reckons that August was the end of the cycle and that at least 6.5% of jobs will disappear from the property sector in the next 12 months -- equivalent to 65,000 jobs.

Goodman Group got the ball rolling yesterday when it announced the culling of 16.5% of staff, or 175 people, as part of a cost-cutting drive.

The Australian