Property Seeker Survey 2023 – Presented by Realestate.com.au

Rachel Stark, one of our team members attended this online presentation of the Property Seeker Survey 2023, in late August – presented by Realestate.com.au

Below are some of the notes from the presentation and can be considered as a summary. Please note, they do not include all the facts that were presented that day.

Survey Summary:

• Survey data collected in May 2023. 6,300+ participants took part. The largest survey of its kind in Australia.
• The common thread was that participants found the media confusing and contradicting.
• The key needs identified were:
  • 1. More Certainty

• • 2. More Value

• • 3. More informed.

1. More Certainty

• Up to 36% of Buyers/Sellers are holding off due to market uncertainty.
• 25% changed their mind about moving.
• 24% of sellers said that the sale price was not meeting their expectations.
• Downsizers are slowing down. Some of the listed reasons were: lack of new properties to move into (many want newly built properties), tax benefits are not good enough, and cost of selling and moving is too expensive vs the profit from the sale and loss of the asset.
• The buyer journey (up to offer & acceptance) is an average of 34 weeks, up sharply from 23 weeks in 2022.
• Off-the-plan purchases are down by 12% and newly built properties are down 7%. Uptake in building company collapses is driving this.
• When asked why they would use an agent the 3 most common responses were:
  • 1. Reassurance 49%
  • 2. Expertise to get the best price 41%
  • 3. Expertise in the marketplace 38%

• “First Home Buyers” need more support to feel comfortable moving forward with a transaction.
• Saturdays between 6pm & 7pm is the busiest time for Realestate.com.au – this is the same time sold results start to appear on the site. More than just buyers looking at these results – sellers and potential sellers look for this information at this time.

2. More Value

• When asked about the biggest issues for the government to address,
  • no.1 was the cost of living at 62% and
  • no. 2 was housing affordability at 40%

• In the 2^nd quarter of 2022 40% of households had over $5k in savings. That has now dropped to 32%.
• 50% of investors say investing in property is not as attractive as it used to be.
• 32% feel returns are no longer worth the effort of investing.

• Only 32% of the interstate buyers market is looking in NSW.
• Most searched by buyers:
  • 1. Number of bedrooms
  • 2. Air Conditioning
  • 3. Garage.
• Garage as a search term is up 31%. This is because many people have to now compromise on the size of the property or exclude things like a study. Having a garage gives the buyers more options for future changes to the property. REA is seeing a good response to properties that now include photos of the garage.
• 79% of buyers are looking for/factoring in sustainability – 85% of these are willing to pay more for it.
• Desire for sustainability has less to do with the environmental factors and more to do with long-term cost saving and predictability/control of the cost of living expenses.
• Energy efficient as a search term is up 43%. Make sure this is listed in the features of the advertising.
• A lot of people are moving from NSW to Queensland.

3. More Informed

• Both buyers and sellers are spending more time monitoring the market.

• 58% of people who do a virtual inspection will also do a physical inspection.
• Buyers like to feel like they are in control of the communication. One of the main ways they can do this is by controlling the medium of communication. Text and email also mean that the buyer can fit communication around their lifestyle.
• Only 1 in 5 rental listings have a floorplan. With renters wanting more information floorplans are in much higher demand.
• Increased demand for digital rental inspections.
• Need to make sure that the features tool is used for rentals as well as more and more renters are using this to shortlist properties.
• Only 1 in 5 sale properties have a digital inspection of any kind. Without this, you lose a large chunk of out-of-area buyers.
• 8% of buyers search with a land size filter on. This no longer is only being used for minimum-sized blocks, more and more people are using it for maximum size as well as a way of keeping the price down. Need to list land size/unit size on all listings going forward.
• More and more buyers and sellers are asking about time on the market for properties.
• Predicted increase in build-to-rent properties.

Interested in selling your own home or investment property?

Or even considering renting it out or changing property management companies?

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