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According to Bernard Salt, the pandemic represented an inflection point for Australians that changed the way its residents act as consumers – not least of all when it comes to real estate purchases.
Speaking exclusively at REB’s REInnovate awards held at The Star Sydney on 3 March, the demographer, commentator and author crafted a compelling portrait of Australia’s average real estate buyer over the next five years, based on domestic and international data.
“Is Australia a good place to invest your youth, your energy, your career, your life? Should you be putting your family’s future into a property over the next five years?” Mr Salt asked REInnovate’s audience of real estate professionals.
It might seem to be a question more reasonably posed to consumers, but in Mr Salt’s view, agents need to keep this concern front of mind precisely because it’s what matters most to their customers.
The good news is that in Mr Salt’s opinion, the answer to that question is an unequivocal yes and the reason lies in the bare facts of the country’s economy.
“Of the 15 largest economic forces on the planet; Australia, with barely 26 million people, ranks as the 13th,” Mr Salt explained.
In the last 12 months, the country has leapfrogged over Spain and is not far behind Brazil, with 212 million people.
“Importantly, there’s no country above Australia on the list that has a smaller population,” he noted
“Australia is rich per capita,” Mr Salt concluded. And the place where they feel most comfortable parking their money is in housing.
The pandemic has ushered in a return to Australian core values, he argued, which has seen the emphasis come back to the home. It also changed the way the average resident’s daily routine operates, having a flow-on effect to how life in cities is navigated and, therefore, what they need from our urban landscape.
People want to stay closer to where they live, meaning that proximity to amenities like shopping and entertainment as well as a strong community connection are more important than ever.
It’s also forced Australians to stay on top of modern tech. The learning curve involved in getting up to speed on engaging in e-commerce previously kept many Australians from making use of time-saving, convenient options like shopping online. When forced to stay home, all that changed. As a result, we have a population that’s more comfortable than ever navigating life online. And that means they’re making use of the internet’s resources to become savvier consumers.
All this, coupled with the fact that a huge generational group is ageing into the period where they’re making serious real estate decisions, means that the face of the average Australian buyer is vastly different from even a few years prior.
Millennials are currently 26 per cent of the Australian population, and according to Mr Salt, they’re at precisely the state where they’re seeking out full-on family homes.
“There’s a time in your life cycle when you buy the most expensive property you’re likely to ever buy in your life: it’s at 45,” he revealed.
And in five years’ time, he noted, there will be more 45-year-olds in Australia than any other age group.
This means that Millennials, formerly dominating the market for apartments and smaller home sales, are now looking for that trophy property, and they’re using a fairly new arsenal of tools to get it.
So who is the buyer of the future? According to Mr Salt, since the onset of the pandemic, they’re savvier, more tech-driven, just as obsessed with lifestyle, and above all, younger than ever before.
REB will be unpacking further insights from REInnovate in the weeks ahead.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
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