Real estate professionals have been urging property investors to get in quick to purchase investment property and beat the rush as cashed up baby boomers transfer their wealth from the stock market to the real estate market. This may seem like a reasonable claim as many Australians; especially those around retirement age feel that they understand real estate as in investment. It is something that they can see and touch where as the stock market is something that works in mysterious ways that they do not fully understand. The decline in share prices across the globe over the last 18 months has entrenched this position and there is a desire to protect what is left of their retirement savings rather than being burnt by further declines in the stock market.
However based on the latest lending data the anticipated increase in property investments is yet to materialise. Rather than real estate investors it is first time owner occupiers who are racing into the market helped in part by government stimulus spending. So why are real estate investors not doing the same? There are a number of reasons why investors may not be entering the property market.