The average age of people buying investment property has fallen by more than three and half years in the past nine months, new analysis from yieldit has found.

The company, which specialises in the sale of tenanted buy-to-let property between investors, noticed the average age of those purchasing investment property through yieldit fell to 45.9 years from the previous average of 49.5 years – a reduction of 3.6 years.

The agent also looked at the change by individual age groups. In the last nine months, 36.3% of all yieldit buyers were aged 40 or under, an 11.7% increase over the previous figure of 24.6%.

In contrast, the proportion of buyers aged 60-plus was only 14.1% over the same period, representing a fall of 8.9% from the previous high of 23%.

Ryan Hughes, head of sales at yieldit, said: “With buy-to-let property investment becoming an increasingly mainstream option, we are not surprised to see the age of investors falling rapidly.”

“Whereas the market was previously dominated by cash-rich buyers who tended to be older for obvious reasons, the sheer range of mortgage products available now has helped to democratise the market and make it accessible for many more people.”

He added: “Because we specialise in selling tenanted properties at yieldit, and rental payments begin straight away after purchase, the risk of void periods is lower. This helps to bring further investors into the sector who may not otherwise have considered an investment.”

The figures are based on yieldit sales data and include buyers of both residential and purpose-built student accommodation investments.