Landlords investing with retirement in mind

As part of its monthly Crockers Property Index survey, it profiled investors to understand who they are and their motivations for investing.

It found half the investors had less than $750,000 of Auckland rental property. Just over a quarter had properties worth between $250,000 and $5090,000. A third had between $1 million and $5 million of Auckland property.

Thirty-five per cent owned two properties, 29% one and 14% owned three. Another 9% owned between five and seven properties and just 3% owned 11 or more.

Almost three-quarters of the investors said they owned their properties as a way to save for  retirement. Another 47% said it was general nest-egg savings.

More than half of the investors said they chose property investment rather than any other investment class because it was something tangible that they could see. Another 43% said they opted for property because the returns were safer and 23% said they did it to help other people.

Almost 60% said they had another source of income and properties were just an extra source. Only 9% were relying on property as their sole income source.

Forty-three per cent said they would keep their current rental properties but not buy any more if a capital gains tax was introduced. A quarter said such a tax would make no difference to their strategy.