ANZ's survey of residential property investors shows most expect prices & capital values to keep rising at twice the pace of rents

Most residential property investors have not been affected by high loan to valuation ratio (LVR) mortgage lending rules, according to the ANZ Residential Property Investment Survey.

Of the 1150 residential property investors from throughout the country who took part in the annual survey, 84% said higher LVRs had not impacted on their investment strategies, and 78% said removing the rules would have no impact on them either.

The survey also revealed that property investors expect property prices and capital values to keep rising faster than rents.

The median expectation for growth in property values over the next 12 months was 6.3%, up from 3.7% in last year's survey.

However the median expected rental growth in the next 12 months is 2.7%, and that is expected to climb to 3.4% over the next five years.

There has also been an increase in the use of professional property managers, with 51% of the surveyed investors reporting they use property managers, up from 44% last year.

Cost was the biggest factor investors considered when selecting a property manager.

The survey also suggested investors were carrying a little less debt relative to the value of their properties, with the median debt to valuation ratio dropping to 58.7% after hovering around 60% from 2012-2014.

Just over half (54%) of investors said they intended to purchase another property in the next two years, up from 49% last year, while 24% said they intended to make a purchase in the next six months.