Property investors positive about the future

A survey of more than 550 property investors found 44.6% of respondents expect house prices to increase over the next six months, which is a huge increase compared with the previous survey.

"It appears property investors have changed their views from the last survey we conducted three months ago. There has been a substantial increase in the number of property investors who now expect house prices to rise. Only 11.8% of respondents in the previous survey thought prices would rise, compared with 44.6% from the latest survey, " says Mike Pero Mortgages chief executive Shaun Riley.

Riley says the change in sentiment has been mainly a shift from those who thought prices would fall, as opposed to those expecting no change.

According to the latest survey results, property investors felt there were a couple of constraints in the market, such as quality properties becoming harder to find.

"This fits with reports coming out from the real estate industry, showing the volume of housing stock in the market is down on recent years," says Riley.

"But investors are certainly taking advantage of good buys. They have been very active in the market snapping up suitable properties to add to their portfolios, especially properties at the cheaper end of the market."

He says survey respondents also felt there was a major change in relation to rents.

"Here, the emerging view is that rents will start increasing. There was an increase in the number of investors who said they had increased their rents in the past six months and there was a corresponding drop in the number who said they never increased their rents."

Looking forward, 29.2% or respondents predicted rents would rise in the next six months, compared to 24.8% in the earlier survey.