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More than 13,000 property seekers responded to the survey, sharing their number one desire when perusing property listings online.
REA Group’s annual Property Seeker Survey has doubled in size for its 2024 edition with the aim of capturing even more insights into buyer behaviour.
Commissioned by realestate.com.au and conducted by Starburst Insights, this year’s edition polled 13,400 Australian consumers about their perceptions of the nation’s property market and their interactions with it.
Topics covered ranged from consumers’ market sentiment and outlook, to financing, information needs, and how they have made decisions about agents and property managers.
The poll also delved into what property searchers value in property listings, with 55 per cent responding that price information is the most important thing to them when assessing a potential property to view.
While there are a host of reasons why agents or sellers choose to keep the price unlisted, it may surprise some to know that the vast majority of those respondents – just over four out of five – said that price information gave them more confidence to place a bid on the property.
Jonathan Swift, REA Group’s executive general manager of consumer product, shared that the firm was seeing a correlation between property listing information and buyer behaviour.
“Consumers are increasingly seeking more information, and they have clear criteria for their search, yet only 22 per cent of listings include more than five property features,” Swift noted.
He highlighted the features that were increasingly sought after in online ads, noting that buyers were favouring listings “that include information such as the property’s sale history, public transport options and the year the property was built”.
The results of the survey also revealed how buyer sentiment has shifted over the course of the past 12 months, with the average time it takes to find a property increasing more than two months, from 34 weeks in 2023 to 44 weeks this year.
According to the firm, a number of factors are driving the timeline blowout, with Australians communicating their growing anxiety over making big, property-related decisions.
“Buyers have moved from ‘fear of missing out’ to ‘fear of a better option’,” the firm noted, with Swift explaining that the desire for more information was impacting property-buying timelines.
“While the great Australian dream of home ownership is well and truly alive, the 2024 Property Seeker Survey highlights that buyers are slowing down and undertaking more research as they weigh up their options for the right property,” he said.
Buyers also appear to be considering their options carefully when it comes to the professionals they chose. While personal recommendations will always hold sway, the research revealed that almost 50 per cent of first-time sellers and almost 40 per cent of experienced sellers search for their agent online.
“Potential sellers are seeking authentic, local experts, and ensuring an agent profile is up to date helps set our customers up for success,” Swift noted.
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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