Business

Property investors fear RBNZ proposals - survey

16:24 pm on 17 October 2014

A survey suggests one in three residential property investors would sell up if the Reserve Bank begins imposing planned new regulations.

The findings are from ANZ Bank, who questioned 1156 people.

The investors said they were worried about a proposal for banks to treat investors with more than five properties as commercial customers.

They told ANZ any changes would affect their investment strategy, and they would stop buying new properties and/or sell up.

One in three respondents also listed interest volatility as their greatest concern, in a year when the official cash rate has risen 1 percentage point.

Elsewhere, the survey shows the proportion of large and full-time property investors owning seven or more investment properties almost doubling to 26 percent over the past four years.

Even with their concerns, investors are expecting property values to grow by 4.8 percent, and rents by 2.8 percent.

ANZ head of mortgages Sarah Berry said investors continued to see property as an investment for the long term.