Investor revival reshapes property market as owner-occupier growth stalls
Despite a rise in first home buyer activity, investors are re-entering the property market at a pace three times faster than owner-occupiers, according to the latest data.
The latest data showed that over the March quarter, the number of funded loans grew by 5.7 per cent to 521,400, marking a 10.5 per cent increase compared to March last year.
Over the last 12 months to March, investor loans remained the primary source of activity in the property sector with a 19 per cent increase, more than three times the rate of owner-occupier loans, which stagnated at 6 per cent.
According to Money.com.au, while owner-occupier loans held firm nationwide, Victoria, NSW and Western Australia saw their loan numbers drop by 1.7, 0.4 and 0.6 per cent, respectively.
Money.com.au’s general manager of lending, Jacob Overs, said investor confidence in the property market has been getting stronger as the Reserve Bank of Australia passes rate cuts, with 196,241 new investor loans in the 2025 March quarter just 3 per cent shy of the 2022 peak.
“We’re just shy of the investor loan peak set in 2022, but this time, the uptick in activity is happening in a very different rate environment,” Overs said.
“With rates falling from a much higher base and more cuts likely, many cashed-up investors see this as their window to strike before competition returns from owner-occupiers and first home buyers,” he said.
Across the country, Victoria, historically dominated by owner-occupiers, recorded a 12 per cent surge in investor loans over the March quarter, one of the few states to see such a rise.
Overs said the shift indicated that investors have been reassessing Victoria as an investment market.
“Stamp duty concessions for off-the-plan properties have provided a lifeline for some investors buying new units and townhouses.”
“At the same time, others are offloading their rental properties due to higher taxes in the state. But many of those homes are being picked up by first home buyers as investment properties, thanks to their relative affordability,” he said.
As investors re-enter the market, the number of refinanced loans has increased by 1 per cent over the March quarter, totalling 554,820 refinanced loans, driven by internal refinancing up by 33 per cent.
On the other hand, external refinancing was down by 11 per cent.
The data showed that investors continue to lead refinancing activity, with investor refinancing hitting a new record of 173,948 loans, surpassing the previous high of 173,942 in September 2023.
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