Motivations and behaviours of residential property investors in Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract

The principal aim of the research is to understand the extent of behavioural and motivational factors in the decision making of housing investors in Auckland, New Zealand. The qualitative research was undertaken via structured interviews to test the applicability of theoretical concepts of bounded rationality in decision making, in particular heuristics and biases. Findings highlight the extent and impact of bounded rationality within the Auckland housing investment market that were identified within the research, in particular the predominance of biases towards past performance, and the use of sub optimal analytical heuristics. These findings are presented within the context of the theoretical frameworks within the literature.