Almost half of all investors who responded to a recent sentiment survey confessed that Brisbane is where they’ll invest in next year, with 44.5% confirming that the Queensland capital is on their radar.

Melbourne was a close second, with 36.3% of respondents rating it for 2019 – and around a quarter of investors still have Sydney on their radar.

These results, drawn from the Property Investor Sentiment Survey run by run by Your Investment Property magazine in conjunction with Michael Yardney’s Property Update and onthehouse.com.au, show that investors’ appetite for property isn’t slowing down, despite current market conditions.

“Interestingly, more than half of the respondents reported that they believe now is a good time to invest, with 42% actively planning to buy within the next 12 months – and this is despite the fact that the vast majority of respondents (84%) believe that property prices will fall or remain flat over the next year,” said Sarah Megginson, editor, Your Investment Property magazine.

“In an environment where access to funding is tight and price growth is slow, and the status of negative gearing is uncertain due to the forthcoming federal election, this shows that savvy investors are taking a long term view.”

The survey also revealed that more than one third, or 38.5%, of investors take advantage of negative gearing. If Labour’s proposed changes to negative gearing come into effect after the next federal election, this proportion could transform significantly in the coming years.

You can read the full survey results here.