The hottest real estate search term in Australia right now is ‘study’ as Covid lockdowns radically change what buyers are looking for in a home.
The pandemic has transformed the housing market across the country, with more and more people working from home for at least some of the week.
Now they’re desperate to break out of cramped working-from-home conditions by snapping up new properties with extra space to set up their vital home offices.
The massive social change has also breathed new life into some sleepy suburbs which were previously considered too far from the CBD to earn top-dollar sales.
Seaside areas like Manly in Sydney (left) and Brighton in Melbourne are seeing record prices as they come back into vogue again. The hottest real estate search term in Australia right now is ‘study’ as Covid lockdowns radically change what buyers are looking for in a home (stock image, right)
Now seaside areas like Manly in Sydney and Brighton in Melbourne are seeing record prices as they come back into vogue again.
‘The pandemic has had a big effect because a lot of people were stuck staring at the same four walls for weeks on end,’ Clarke and Humel estate agent Michael Clarke told Daily Mail Australia.
‘That made them think, “I can’t go overseas, I want to be looking at the very best four walls I possibly can… and if I’m going to be locked down within a 5km radius I want to be near a beach.”‘
The pandemic has breathed new life into some sleepy suburbs which were previously considered too far from the CBD to earn top dollar sales.
He added: ‘In January last year, a study didn’t necessarily add a substantial amount of value unless you could call it a bedroom.
‘Whereas presently the most searched for term on realestate.com.au is “study”.’
Data from 2018 reveals the top five pre-Covid search terms for Australian real estate were pool, garage, waterfront, views and granny flat – with study not even making the top 10.
Data from 2018 reveals the top five pre-Covid search terms for Australian real estate were pool, garage, waterfront, views and granny flat – with study not even making the top 10
Now, however, buyers are all about home-offices and nearby beaches, which has seen demand for homes in Sydney’s Northern Beaches match or even overtake areas like Paddington, Double Bay and Woollahra.
‘Historically, the Eastern Suburbs has outperformed Manly because of their proximity to the city,’ said Mr Clarke.
‘Now there’s a lot of people who don’t need to go to the city or only go two or three days a week and they’re saying the home-office is more important than the city office.
‘They want to be in a better environment – and that’s part of the reason why the Manly market has gone so nuts.
Demand for homes in Sydney’s Northern Beaches (pictured above) is now matching or even overtaking areas like Paddington, Double Bay and Woollahra
‘I’ve been in the industry 16 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.’
Around Brighton, in Melbourne’s south, it’s a similar story.
‘We just got out of lockdown on Friday last week,’ said local estate agent Zed Nasheet, 31. ‘And then on Saturday, we closed seven homes in one day.’
Despite the lockdowns, Sydney estate agent supremo Alex Phillips, 43, from PPD, saw turnover rise by 30 percent, after they adapted to the new normal.
Despite the lockdowns, Sydney estate agent supremo Alex Phillips, 43, from PPD Real Estate, saw turnover rise by 30 percent after the company adapted to the new normal.
‘It’s crazy,’ he told Daily Mail Australia. ‘We were doing on one appointment and pre-qualifying buyers.
‘We went to more old-school selling of almost taking people in your car that were absolutely ready to buy, financially and mentally.
‘We weeded out a lot of people that weren’t really buyers, so we had a really high rate of selling.’
He added: ‘It’s a seven day a week commitment
‘You just always have to be available, get back to people quickly and make it very straightforward and easy for people to buy.’
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