If you are planning on selling your residential home or investment property, it might be worthwhile finding out who might be interested in buying. In this article, we will provide you with information which can be useful for advertising campaigns, as well as making decisions regarding decorating the property. Your property can be furnished and styled in a way which appeals to your target market, that is, people who are likely to buy what you are selling. The purpose of this article is to break down market trends, by looking at the rate of home-change, housing mobility by age and then interpreting the statistics.
Rate of Change
While you may hear about tree changers, sea-changers, downsizing and upsizing when it comes to why people are moving. The question is, how often do people decide to relocate from one place to another? In a 2007-08 Survey of Income and Housing from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, data was taken from candidates to analyse this trend. The data can be found below:
- 27% of people had lived in their current home for 15 years;
- 30% of people had lived at their current home between five and 14 years; and
- 43% of people had moved in the past five years.
Of the 43% who have moved in the past five years, almost half have moved once in that time. While almost a fifth have moved twice, 8% have moved four times, and 11% have moved five times. In essence, these figures tell us that Australian’s want regular change. In fact, nearly two out of five people are ‘regular-movers.’
More on why people move can be found here.
First Home Buyers & Young People
All this moving around is perhaps a sign of a strong real estate market, with quite a lot of people regularly on the lookout for their new home. While this article has so far established the rate of change, it is important to determine ‘who’ wants change. It is unsurprising that people in younger households without children were the most mobile. The age group in this category are between 20 and 30 years of age. But what are the statistics?
- 90% have moved at least once in the past five years; and
- 40% have moved three to four times in the last five years.
Of the people in this category, 53% are private renters. A good sign for both property investors and for people looking to sell homes to first home-owners. In essence, this is a key target market which many people should consider with regards to advertising and property design, before putting their property on the market.
Couples with children show that there is a decline in mobility. However, couples with young children are more likely to move with children under the age of five. What stands out is that 76% of people in this category are home-owners, while the other 19% were renters. As a result, we interpret the statistics to mean that young couples are looking to buy a family home, and this is an equally competitive market.
Overview of First Home Buyers
Many people rely on their real estate agent to advise them on the marketing issues in real estate. The purpose of this article was to provide you with a new perspective, aimed at discussing the rate of change amongst younger generations.
With many first home buyers and young families on the move, it may be worth designing and styling your property to appeal to this target market. As one possibility, you may think of turning a home office into a playroom or turn it into an additional bedroom to accommodate more children. To accommodate and appeal to people in their twenties and thirties, you should showcase nearby transport, local cafes, schools, and universities.
[1] Survey of Income and Housing 2007 to 2008, Australian Bureau of Statistics
[2] Australian Social Trends 2010
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