Almost half of Australia’s investors are determined to buy another property sometime this year, a survey has found.
The survey by property investment consultancy Momentum Wealth found that 45 per cent of respondents are aiming to buy a property in 2016.
Another 26 per cent of investors said their main goal this year was to review their current property portfolio, while 17 per cent said they would continue saving to buy their next investment property.
When asked to identify the biggest roadblock to buying an investment property right now, 18 per cent of respondents noted life circumstances, while 16 per cent said they did not have enough equity and 13 per cent said they did not think it was the right time to buy.
According to the survey, 42 per cent of respondents had considered acquiring property via an SMSF.
The survey found that established houses were the most popular type of investment property to purchase, with 48 per cent support. This was followed by development sites or syndicates (25 per cent), new houses and land (11 per cent), and apartments or units (8 per cent).
The survey also found that 50 per cent of respondents believed that now was a good time to fix their loan interest rates, while the other 50 per cent thought they should wait.
Furthermore, 33 per cent of investors hadn’t reviewed their loans in the last 12 months.
Momentum Wealth managing director Damian Collins said that while there are plenty of good investment opportunities in Australia at the moment, investors should be watchful.
“A high-performing investment property can deliver huge returns to an investor, but choosing the wrong property can be a significant financial burden,” he said.
“One of the most common misconceptions is that all properties within a city experience the same rate of capital growth. However, investors need to remember that there are dozens of markets within a single city, some of which will increase in price, while others will stagnate or possibly fall in value.”
[Related: Significant pain coming for investors, says buyer’s agent]