For those wondering how the property market is moving these days, your mortgage broker in Rockingham can give you the good news – Australians borrowed around $200 billion to help purchase residential properties last year. Compared to the market peak of 2007/08, last year was just 7% short of those recent highs.

If you are wondering if now is a good time to put your property on the market and seek the advice of your mortgage broker, you’ll be pleased to learn that first-time buyers, investors and people seeking to move for the second or subsequent time, are all equally busy in the residential property market.

Who Is Buying and Selling?

While first-time buyers represented just 14% of purchases last year, it is essential for that part of the market to be moving so that all the rest can follow. Owner residents purchased 44% of purchases last year with investors moving in with the other 42%, resulting in almost 1 million homes changing hands.

Investors, making the most of mortgage brokers in Kwinana, Baldivis and Rockingham, will see that many Australians are using the purchase of property as a great way to increase their wealth and long-term financial security. The year 2012 saw investors buying 425,000 properties and borrowing $84 billion.

These figures prove that the market is no longer full of gloom and slow. Cautious investors returning to the property market is a good sign for the economy. After being polled, most of these investors don’t see themselves as investors particularly.

All Ages Are Buying

Residential property investors are generally in their 20s, 30s and 40s. The survey reported that they are mostly married professionals and usually own an average of two properties while living quite close to their investment opportunities.

With rental returns holding firm, when this is combined with recent lower interest rates, investors are finding the property market a good investment, again.

Single people are also investing in property. It no longer takes two incomes to service a mortgage and with interest rates below 6%, rental returns have shown that you can invest sensibly in property, providing you don’t gear yourself too high to the danger points. Purchasers can find superior deals in areas of good growth but must ensure that the mortgage can easily be supported by income from the rental property. Discussions with your professional mortgage brokers in Rockingham will help guide you to the best deals for these properties.

Real estate agents are successfully reporting a growing trend in Gen Y investors. These are people who rent where they want to live, but purchase properties to rent out in other, perhaps more affordable areas.

Finally recent reports show that more people are using their self managed super funds to purchase property and this with information from Canberra that there is a plan for a superannuation tax. Hopefully, this will encourage people to exit super to make the most of tax benefits of purchasing residential homes or negative gearing.