Save thousands on your home loan
Compare 25+ lenders and hundreds of loans in an instant
I want:
Westpac Macquarie citibank commonwealth bank anz bankwest
finni mortgages logo
google reviews
4.9
star star star star star
Rating based on 147 reviews

×

Embrace big property downturns, investors told

If you’ve been caught up by doom and gloom predictions of Sydney losing up to 40 per cent in value, chances are you’re looking at investment wrong.

hug girls house spi

Speaking to Smart Property Investment, Right Property Group’s Victor Kumar assured investors that property value fluctuations are standard part of owning an asset, including extreme downturns. 

“Let’s say it did drop 40 per cent in Sydney; we’ve had gains of up to 100 per cent, so if you’re giving back some, it’s not an ‘end of the world’ sort of thing – it’s a market cycle at work,” Mr Kumar said.

“The market cycle is that you gain some, you give some back, you gain some, you give some back; it’s not a linear trajectory as such.”

Investors should also keep in mind that losing equity as values soften is not unusual, and other factors like cash flow are what sustains a portfolio through a tougher market.

“So long as we can hold onto the properties from a cash flow point of view, the market can do whatever it needs to do: the rent’s not going to come back significantly; the only thing that would be that you may be worth less on paper for a year, two years, maybe even 10 years.

“When you look at property investing, you need to be looking at it from worst-case scenario, and the worst-case scenario being that you need to be able to hold onto your portfolio during the bad times.”

Mr Kumar added that investing needs to be viewed with a long-term perspective, particularly to avoid short-term panics. 

“We’ve got used to [these] phenomenal gains within a couple of years and people are expecting it to continue happening,” he said.

“It has to stop and then come back and then it takes off again when the supply dries up, and that’s what people tend to forget.”

RELATED TERMS

You need to be a member to post comments. Become a member for free today!

Related articles