The Canberra suburbs owned by investors

More than 90 per cent of homes in Canberra’s city suburbs are owned by an investor, new data has revealed.

The 2601 postcode that contains City and Acton has the fourth highest concentration of investor-owned apartments in the country, according to figures released by CoreLogic.

The Canberra postcode, which is home to 91.5 per cent investor-owned properties, ranked behind just three inner-city Sydney postcodes.

The suburb of Ultimo topped the list with a staggering 99.8 per cent of apartments owned by investors.

CoreLogic’s Profile of the Australian Residential Property Investor found that 2.6 million Australian homes are owned by investors.

When cross-referencing property records for indicators, including rental advertisements and the owner’s address being different from that of the residence, CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said some broad patterns emerged.

Investors dominated the markets around typically strong rental market areas, such as inner-city locations near hospitals and universities.

Acton is home to the ANU, which may have contributed to the high concentration of investors in the area, however Real Estate Institute ACT spokesperson Craig Bright says the figures are more likely to be driven by young professionals and contractors.

“The ANU has built its own accommodation and while there could be a bit of a spillover, I think it’s more people working in the city who don’t want to use a vehicle,” Mr Bright says.

The figures also demonstrated that investors are choosing to invest in apartments, rather than houses in Canberra.

Canberra’s suburbs contained a smaller percentage of house investors than anywhere else in the country.

The 2612 postcode, which includes Braddon, Campbell, Reid and Turner, attracted the highest percentage of investor-owners in the territory at 22.6 per cent.

Investors owned about half the houses in Queensland and Victoria’s most investor-heavy suburbs.

Mr Bright said the price of apartments in Canberra is a major drawcard for interstate investors as the prices are significantly lower than Sydney’s and the yield is more attractive.

“Canberra is attractive to investors as it has fairly steady growth, rather than a boom and bust cycle,” Mr Bright said.

Mr Bright said as the boom reaches an end in larger cities, interstate investors are could begin looking for opportunities in Canberra.

“Traditionally as the heat comes out of Sydney we see more investors in Canberra,” he said.