A TIGHTENING in the rental market has spurred a record increase in the number of people planning to invest in the residential property market, a new study shows.
More buy into rental market
And most of the growth is coming from first-time investors, according to mortgage lender Wizard Home Loans.
The latest survey by Wizard found the number of Australians planning to buy a residential investment property in the next 12 months has jumped by 35 per cent.
About 779,000 in the December quarter signalled an intention to buy, as opposed to 577,000 in the September quarter.
Wizard chairman Mark Bouris said almost 60 per cent of the prospective investors were not currently in the market, up from 42 per cent in the previous quarter.
“Our research indicates that borrowers are responding to, and attempting to capitalise on, increasing reports of limited supply of rental accommodation and predictions of sharp increases in rental yields,” Mr Bouris said.
He said the study also revealed that so-called blue-collar workers made up almost half of the increase in the December quarter.
