COVID shifted home-buyer preferences: Mortgage Choice

A survey of 1,000 Australians by CoreData, commissioned by Mortgage Choice, has found 42 per cent of buyers now prefer homes with extra room for working remotely.

Around a third (34 per cent) said they wanted homes with more space and 31 per cent expressed a preference for a sea or tree change.

One-third (36 per cent) of recent home owners had purchased a property with a room for working from home, while 36 per cent had bought a property with a garden and 34 per cent were located close to nature.

Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) had said that living close to a CBD was a lower priority.

Realestate.com.au user behaviour from 2021 had echoed the findings, showing an increase in the share of bedroom-filtered searches for both houses and units with at least three bedrooms.

Mortgage Choice and Smartline chief executive Susan Mitchell commented the demands of working from home over the last two years had transformed home-buyer preferences.

“It will be interesting to see whether these changes to consumer preference continue into the New Year and how they might shape the property market,” she said.

“As the nation emerges from lockdowns, employers will begin to expect the workforce to return to the office. It is unclear how many will embrace a flexible working arrangement on a long-term basis and the impact this will have on property decisions.”

[Related: FHBs migrating away from cities]