Investors borrowed two out of five dollars loaned to the residential market last month, which equates to $7.32 billion last month alone. One quarter of our housing is held by private investors and their actions greatly impact on the supply of rental accommodation; yet there are very few recent studies on who invests in residential property.
So who actually buys a residential investment property in Australia?
Not surprisingly, most are between 35 and 54 years of age, with just one in five being under 35 years old and just 7% over 65. Many older residents look to rebalance their wealth portfolios toward more liquid assets. On average, the typical Australian investor holds 1.5 residential investment properties. The vast majority are of average means.
Three out of five borrow money to invest and most of these negatively gear. Another quarter actually rent out their previous principal place of residence. Just ten percent buy an investment property outright and very few, just 4%, inherent an investment property.
Over 80% buy for long-term capital gain. Yet, interestingly one in four investment properties are withdrawn (mostly sold) within twelve months, with half sold off within five years. A third sell because they need the money; about a quarter liquidate because of unsatisfactory capital growth; a further 20% because of lower than anticipated rental returns and one in six because it is too much hassle.
Most investors, our survey work suggests, anticipate values to double every ten years and a gross rental yield over 5%. Such performance figures might have been the norm last decade but are unlikely “moving forward”. Pun intended.
Four out of five investors reside in a detached home, yet just half buy a detached house as an investment. Investors seem to like apartments, not to live in as such but as an investment, with just 12% living in an apartment but over a third of them holding an investment apartment.
They also like to stick close to home, with half buying in the same city and even same suburb. Nine out of ten investors stick to buying in their own state or territory. In addition, most seem to like the bright lights of the city, with two-thirds buying an investment within a capital city. In Queensland this capital-centric behaviour is less, with Brisbane attracting a 50% market share.
Within the capitals themselves, inner city locations are more favoured, followed by other areas supported by infrastructure such as railway stations, regional shopping and places of work. The usual drill in this regard.