The Sydney suburbs where nearly all the homes are investor-owned

Startling new research shows that in some suburbs nearly every home is an investment property, with 2.6 million of them across the country.

Meanwhile in Sydney CBD it’s a rare landmark commercial property which is attracting attention – a heritage building is being sold for close to $100 million dollars.

Traditionally investors favour inner city properties in areas such as Sydney’s Ultimo.

Also read: Are falling house prices masking something more worrying?

“It has always been a very popular area for investors,” real estate agent Julia Chan Spencer said.

Based on recent sales, Sydney’s most investor concentrated suburb is Ultimo, where 99.8% of properties had been sold by investors.

Meanwhile in North Sydney 96.5% of properties are investor owned, over in Chippendale this number was 94.3% and in Kingsford 91.2% were investor owned.

Enmore also makes the list as one of Sydney’s most investor-owned suburbs at 84.9% of properties.

“Around the CBD, hospitals and universities are generally where people that don’t own a house want to live,” CoreLogic senior research analyst Cameron Kusher said.

In total, investors own 15% of Sydney’s houses and around half of its apartments.

Also read: Why Sydney investors are flocking to this one Melbourne suburb

A boom in construction has also seen a boom in interest, but will it be sustainable?

Unit oversupply is already starting to bite.

“What is happening is gross rental yields in Sydney are at record low levels,” Kusher said.

This means investors are increasingly relying on capital growth, not rent, to stay viable.