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As an investor, the rental properties you own are your vessel for business. And like any business, it's important you meet the demands of the market, which is constantly changing.
This is crucial, otherwise you may find your property is not attracting enough demand and you are not as aligned with your property investment goals as you wish to be.
Any property investor currently looking to purchase another slice of real estate in Australia to add to their portfolio may be interested to hear of the changing nature of renters in the country.
According to a statement from Australian Property Investor magazine, the classic nuclear family consisting of parents and two children may be overtaken by younger couples without children.
SQM Research Founder Louis Christopher stated the nuclear family accounts for 33 per cent of homes in the rental market.
However, couples without children are moving up at a fast pace, already accounting for 30 per cent of all rental homes.
"Partly it's generation Y delaying having kids until they're in their 30s, so there's now an extra decade where a couple doesn't have children compared to older generations - and those young people are more likely to rent," said Mr Christopher in a September 23 statement.
Mr Christopher commented that this rise in rental demographic is also partly due to the increase in 'emptynesters', where older children move out of the family home and leave their parents to remain alone.
"In stark contrast, young Australians are putting off buying a home in favour of renting and the flexibility it offers them. That's very much unlike their parents and grandparents," Mr Christopher said.
According to Mr Christopher, this is due to lifestyle reasons opposed to financial ones, as renting accommodation offers young renters freedom and flexibility in their lives.
"All of those demands have them gravitate towards a rental property. And while younger Australians are happy to rent, they’re not keen to put down roots and will on average move to a new rental property every 18 months or so," he said.
This information could open up a number of opportunities for current or prospective investors in the market, as they could look into purchasing homes to suit this type of demographic.
As these couples are childrenless, it could mean directing their real estate search to townhouses, units and apartments located in metropolitan areas, opposed to looking for three bedroomed houses in the suburbs.
