Property investors are increasingly hunting for established dwellings, rather than new builds, with 76.7 per cent of Australians purchasing an established investment property, according to Mortgage Choice.
Mortgage Choice chief executive, John Flavell, said that was an increase from 2015, when 75.8 per cent of investors purchased an existing property.
Despite the increased amount of new apartment blocks on the market, investors were increasingly opting to buy an older property, he said.
“Investors are savy, they aren’t looking to lose money on their investment. They want to invest in a property that has the potential to deliver strong capital growth and rental yields,” he said.
The publicly listed mortgage broking firm said that the majority of investors (71 per cent) also wanted to buy a house with at least two bedrooms.
That was why both sides of the government needed to complete a thorough analysis on how restricting negative gearing to solely new properties would hurt both potential and existing property investors.
“Negative gearing plays an important role in the property market. The tax benefits associated with negative gearing help make property investment more attractive to some Australians,” Flavell said.
