Why mum and dad investors are key to maintaining a healthy rental market

But REIWA president Damian Collins fears that the importance of investors has not been appropriately recognised, with a common misconception that investors are wealthy individuals hoarding large numbers of properties.

“This is simply untrue,” Mr Collins said.

This review is particularly crucial amid Western Australia’s struggles with low levels of investor activity and a real shortage of rental stock, but while there are signs investors are returning to the market, REIWA has stressed that the state is a long way off the $1 billion figure it experienced during 2014.

Applauding mum and dad investors and their “invaluable service” to WA’s rental market, Mr Collins called for a fair review of the Residential Tenancies Act that will be equitable for all parties, ensuring property investment isn’t discouraged and there is enough available housing stock in the private rental market to keep up with tenant demand.

Mr Collins noted that it’s important to recognise that mums and dads, with less than two rentals, who use property investment as a means to secure their future, are the most common type of investors across the nation.

“The importance of individual property investors in a healthy, thriving rental market is frequently overlooked. They provide an invaluable service to the community – supplying housing for tenants.

“Governments and their state-funded housing simply cannot do this job alone,” according to Mr Collins.

Without mum and dad investors, tenants would struggle to find appropriate housing and suffer from higher rents and fewer properties, the president added.

“The more property investors there are in the market, the more available rental stock there will be, the less competition tenants will face and the easier it will be to secure housing.”

Mr Collins would like to see the return of investors to WA continue, with recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealing that investor finance in WA surged to a five-year high of $462 million in March, up from last year’s $237 million.

Consequently, data from reiwa.com pointed to an increase in rental listings of 3.8 per cent in May and 7.4 per cent over the last three months.

“We need to continue to achieve a balanced market,” according to Mr Collins.

“With activity from investors on the rise, we should hopefully see a continued increase in the number of listings come to market in the coming months, which will go some way towards easing the state’s rental shortage.”