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 "According to the Reserve Bank, property investors have been the biggest winners. But that is history. What the future holds, is anyone's guess." - Mark |
| Property investors ahead of the pack |
| By David Uren, Economics correspondent |
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May 21, 2004 PROPERTY has been a highly successful investment strategy for more than one in 10 households in Australia, according to research conducted by the Reserve Bank. The average property investor has a net wealth of $662,000, more than three times the $218,000 average wealth of the population at large. Their higher wealth reflects their property ownership, the Reserve Bank says, and the longer they have held their property, the richer they become. Property investors aged over 65 have an average net wealth of $1 million, with most of their properties fully paid off. The average age of people who have their own home and an investment property is 49 years. Property investors in the 45-to-64 age bracket have an average net wealth of $860,000. The Reserve Bank said that, surprisingly, almost one in six property investors rent the home where they live. The renters with property investments are younger, with an average age of 39 years, and 85 per cent of them have borrowed to buy their investment property. Negative gearing, where investors pay more on their debt and property costs than they receive in rent for a tax advantage, is most popular among younger property investors. The study found that half the investors in the 25-to-44 year age group have either no income or tax losses from their property. Investors who have borrowed to buy their property have an average mortgage of $120,000, while the average value of their investment property is $250,000. The principal dwelling of owner-occupier investors has an average value of $310,000. Although there are people in all income groups with investment property, the market is mostly composed of higher-income earners, the study said, with the top 40 per cent of income earners owning 71 per cent of the investment properties. Property investors have an average household income of $83,200, compared with the population average of $47,500 Reference: The Australian 
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