News and Media

First time property investor survey results

When buying your first house most people envisage a home; however results from the Mortgage Choice 2011 First Time Property Investors Survey reveal how homebuyer patterns are changing.

The survey found that 19% of respondents plan to buy an investment property as their first ever property purchase.

This trend was highest in New South Wales (26%) and lowest in Western Australia (13%). Gender-wise, males were more likely than females to make this choice (21% versus 17%).

Of the 1,060 respondents, each of whom were intending to buy before July 2013, close to one in four will do so alone. Queenslanders were most likely to fly solo and Western Australians were least likely; while the genders were on par.

The number one motivator to buy was 'I want to set myself up financially for the future' (82%), then 'I see more benefit in investments such as property than I do shares' (57%). 'Tax benefits' ranked third (53%), followed by 'I've researched the property market and feel property investment will enable me to achieve my financial goals sooner/better' (40%) and 'potential rental yields' (39%).

Mortgage Choice spokesperson Kristy Sheppard said, 'Once we'd delved into the results, the description that came to mind for these first time property investors was logical, well-planned, long-term thinkers who were determined, careful researchers and aware of their limitations. This may be why so many are buying for investment purposes before becoming a home owner.

'The findings show these novice investment buyers to be almost the opposite. They are making educated choices based on a long-term commitment to their property cause and are thinking with their heads rather than hearts. All are vital attributes of a successful investor,' she said.

Source: Mortgage Choice. http://www.mortgagechoice.com.au/about-us/media-releases/2011-first-time-property-investors-survey-national-results.aspx. Media Release: '2011 First Time Property Investors Survey: national results'. 11 July 2011.