Investors pick up the pace in the property market

Wednesday, 8 October 2025

Hamilton is one of the cities where investors were taking up the biggest share of the property buying market.

Investors are taking up an increasingly bigger slice of property sales in the last year - making up to 30% of the housing market in some areas and paying less to do it.

And it’s being driven by small scale investors.

The biggest winners were in Gisborne where the share of property purchases by mortgaged multiple property owners’ (MPOs) had jumped to 30% this year from 23% in 2024, and Hamilton was only just behind with 28.5% up from 27.3%.

Invercargill has leapt from 20% last year to 27% this year while such investors were making up 27% of Christchurch’s market and 26% in Auckland.

Cotality NZ chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said MPO activity had strengthened over the past 12–18 months, now making up nearly 24% of property purchases nationwide, up from cyclical lows of about 22% between 2022 and 2024.

Rotorua also has a higher share than the national average at 28% alongside Hastings which has climbed to 25% from 21% in 2024.

Davidson said first home buyers still dominated in Wellington where investor numbers were lower on 23.6%, the only main centre to go down from 24.3% last year.

Dunedin showed a slight increase up to 21.9% up from 18.9% a year ago.

Davidson said the upswing has been encouraged by a combination of regulatory and financial tailwinds, including the shorter Brightline test, lower deposit and loan to value ratio requirements, and the reinstatement of mortgage interest deductibility from April 2025.

“Relocating owner-occupiers (”movers“) remain more cautious than usual, while first home buyers are still active at elevated levels. Mortgaged multiple property owners are also making a steady comeback,” he said.

Falling mortgage rates had also reduced the cashflow top-ups typically required for investment purchases.

Despite the pick-up, investors are actually paying slightly less than last year.

Davidson said the median price paid by mortgaged MPOs in 2025 was $759,000, down from $770,000 in 2024. First-home buyers had paid a median $700,000, while movers had spent about $880,000.

He said new-builds remained a significant focus for investors, accounting for 30% of new-build purchases this year — roughly in line with 2024 but well above pre-2020 levels.

They were also not looking for cheaper properties. Investors share of standalone house purchases had edged up from 66% last year to 67% in 2025, still below first home buyers and movers, where standalone dwellings account for 75% of activity, in the same period.

Davidson said the data showed the resurgence was being driven by smaller “mum and dad” investors, often using equity from their own homes or existing rental properties to re-enter the market.

“The recent rise in mortgaged investor activity has come entirely from smaller players — those with one or two investment properties. These buyers appear to be stepping back in as top-up costs fall and regulatory settings ease.”

He said the longer-term patterns being seen in had continued in recent months as investors returned to the property market.