What Does The Average Property Investor Look Like?

Think property investing is beyond you? Think again. Statistics reveal that you may have more in common with the average property investor than you realise.

Many people mistakenly believe that property investing is beyond their reach and that all landlords are multimillionaires. That's not the case at all. 

While some investors are successful real estate multimillionaires, most are ordinary, everyday Australians who have chosen to use property to grow their wealth. 

Here’s a look at some statistics and data that show exactly who invests in property.

How Many People Are Property Investors?

A lot. According to ING Direct’s 2016 Financial Wellbeing Index, around one in five Australians already owns an investment property. 

Corelogic reports that 15.7% of taxpayers have an investment property and many own more than one, with the average being 1.28 rental properties per investor.

As you might expect, for this reason property investors provide the majority of rental properties across the country. Investors own 27% of Australian dwelling stock by number and 24% by value, according to Corelogic data.

Who Is Investing? 

Property investment now spans all age groups as well as all segments of society but it’s actually most popular among the young. 

According to ING Direct’s 2016 Financial Wellbeing Index, 22% of Gen Y own at least one investment property. For Gen X  it’s 20%, and for Baby Boomers it is 19%. 

Digging a bit deeper into some ABS statistics we find the typical property investor is likely to be:

• Male. Only a third of property investors are women.
• Married. 72% of investors are married or in a de facto relationship.
• Self Employed. These workers make up 27% of property investors, but only around 12% of the workforce.
• Educated. Residential investors are mainly professionals, work in management positions, own a small business or practice a skilled trade.
• Average Income Earners. ABS data shows investors have a net annual income of $79,404 (if you exclude the top 100 investors). 

Property Investing Is On The Rise

Another thing we know for sure is that property investing is becoming more popular. The number of investor-owned dwellings in Australia increased from 22.3% of all housing stock in 2014 to 26.9% in April 2016, according to Corelogic.

Mum and dad investors are fuelling this, as are professional investors. The growth in self-managed super funds has also contributed to the trend. 

The areas investors choose make for interesting reading too. For instance, in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs 45% of occupied properties are rentals, compared to 31.8% in greater NSW according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. 

Bondi (54.7% rentals), South Coogee and Bondi Junction (both 50% rental) all have far higher percentages of rentals than the Eastern Suburbs average, and suburbs such as Rose Bay and Waverley have both seen an increase in the number of rental properties over the past years. 

And with good reason: these blue-chip areas have proven to provide steady growth over time and to hold their value relatively well in all market conditions. That makes them eternally popular with landlords and renters alike.

Want To Know More?

If you’d like to know more about how to manage your Eastern Suburbs investment property, get in touch with our team of specialists today.