Australia's bruised and battered property industry has seen $51 billion wiped off the total worth of its assets under management in a single year as falling property values, sales and corporate collapses have taken their toll.

After 10 years of 16% annual growth, fuelled by offshore buying sprees and debt binges, the property industry's gross assets dropped from $420bn last year to $396bn this year, according to industry analyst Property Investment Research.

Head of property for Aegis/PIR, Dinesh Pillutla, said $15bn worth of assets overseen by 32 groups had been culled from the sector as a result of corporate collapses, with investors expected to recover little as a result, or not have access to their investments due to redemptions being frozen.

The Australian