`Property investors record confidence`

Confidence in the property market among established purchasers is at an historic
high as first home buyers recede from the market, a survey finds.
Three quarters of established - or next time - buyers believed it was a good time
to snap up an investment property - a record high proportion, according to the
latest BankWest and MFAA Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia index data.
This was an historical high and up sharply from a record low of 14.5 per cent
recorded for property investors in the midst of the global credit crisis, BankWest
and MFAA said in a statement on Wednesday.
BankWest retail chief executive Vittoria Shortt said next-time buyers were returning
to the property market as confidence in the economy and jobs market picked up.
First home buyers flooded the market during the global financial crisis as house
prices slipped and the government increased grants targeted at this segment.
"Now the baton has been passed to upgraders," Ms Shortt said.
The survey found 76 per cent of respondents believed property prices would climb
further in the June quarter and the rise would be across all states.
Forty seven per cent predicted interest rates would rise by 0.5 percentage points
during the next 12 months, BankWest and MFAA said.