Investor finance in Western Australia increased 164% in April 2021 compared to April 2020, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which is good news for the state’s rental market.
The latest ABS statistics revealed investor lending in April 2021 was $453 million, up 164% from $171 million in April 2020. This is on top of the March 2021 improvement, which saw investor finance come in at $441 million, up 94% from $227 million in March 2020.
REIWA President Damian Collins said although WA still had a way to go to reach the $1 billion a month investment lending figures that occurred during the previous market booms in 2014 and 2006-07, this was a positive trend and an improvement on the low investor lending figures of recent times.
“The April 2021 figures are the best we have seen since December 2015 and considerably higher than this time last year.
“Low levels of investor activity in WA are a key reason behind the state’s rental shortage. Property investors and the private rental market are essential to ensuring tenants can find appropriate housing," Mr Collins said.
Investor confidence is starting to return
“The past few years have been challenging for the WA rental market and during the downturn, a lot of property investors were impacted. Now that the rental moratorium is over and the property market is firmly in recovery mode, investor confidence is starting to return," Mr Collins said.
“As investor levels increase and more available stock comes to market, this will help provide housing to tenants and ease the rental shortage. There are also a lot of investors choosing to sell now that were unable to during the height of COVID-19. Once this wave of activity subsides, we will see more improvement.
“Although we are not out of the woods yet, it is encouraging to see some light at the end of the tunnel for the WA rental market," Mr Collins said.
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Source: REIWA 08 June 2021
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