A range of pandemic-fuelled factors has triggered a surge in the number of Australians interested in purchasing a home – but a change in buyer preference has pushed demand away from the inner cities to the suburbs and city outskirts, recent data has revealed.

Realestate.com.au has developed a new metric that tracks the number of “highly engaged” or serious buyers who are looking at properties at specific suburbs, creating an accurate picture of demand in the area.
The property market intelligence website described a highly engaged buyer as someone who is likely to make a home purchase based on their online activity, including “returning to a listing multiple times, looking at floorplans, emailing or calling the agent, and scheduling an appointment.”
Data gathered by the group in the 12 months ending in February showed a strong buyer preference for “lifestyle factors,” such as larger spaces and seaside living, which director of economic research Cameron Kusher said was a “COVID-effect.”
“Demand has shifted to outer and near capital city markets over the past year as people are much more interested in lifestyle and space as opposed to historically, where the focus has been proximity to work,” he told Realestate.com.au. “With flexible working arrangements, meaning people don’t have to be in the office every day, demand has shifted to these areas.”

Australia’s most popular suburbs for homebuyers
Buderim on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast was the most sought-after suburb for houses in the country, with 42,239 highly engaged buyers looking at properties there. It was followed by Melbourne’s Berwick and Sydney’s Kellyville, with 41,481 and 37,371 serious property seekers, respectively.
Half of Australia’s top 10 most in-demand suburbs were in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula region, namely Mount Martha, Frankston, Mount Eliza, Mornington, and Rye.
By contrast, demand for units was stronger in inner-city suburbs, which Kusher said was primarily influenced by supply.
“A lot of outer capital city and regional markets don’t actually have a substantial supply of units, they are only located in specific locations of the country so that is why we are seeing stronger demand in these areas,” he said.
Melbourne, with 51,787 serious buyers, was the most popular suburb for apartment units nationally, followed by Surfers Paradise with 40,938. The coastal town in Queensland’s Gold Coast was the only non-capital city market to make the top 10.
Here is a state-by-state breakdown of Australia’s most in-demand suburbs based on Realestate.com.au new metric. You can access the website’s interactive graphics showing the number of active property seekers in all suburbs across Australia through this link.

Queensland 

Source: Realestate.com.au