Kiwis still confident about rental property

The ASB Investor Confidence survey shows that in the quarter to September 30 investor confidence has pulled back from its record high of the previous quarter, probably due to considerable turmoil in the financial markets.

Overall, confidence dropped 7 percentage points, with a net 22% of investors expecting returns over the next year to be better than last year’s.  

While faith was lost in some asset classes, such as bank term deposits and small businesses, rental property remained popular.

“Rental property investment has been unshaken by the string of interest rate increases, and remains the most favoured investment category,” ASB head of investor services Jonathan Beale says. “However, the housing market continues to show signs of softening with rental confidence levelling off at a net 22% after increasing steadily over the past year.”

Confidence in managed funds has increased slightly over the quarter from 11% to a net 13%.