Perth (pictured) has been named the top destination is Australia based on its position as the most-searched place for property buyers and investors over the last 12 months.
TheMoveChannel.com, which charted activity on its website over the last 12 months, showed that the capital of the Western Australian state accounted for one-third (33.8 percent) of all Australia searches on its website. Sydney came in a close second, attracting 28.21 percent. Melbourne was also highly desirable among international buyers, responsible for 19.98 percent of searches.
Despite Perth’s popularity, most buyers ended up in a different state when it came to signing on the dotted line: property in Queensland generated the highest number of enquiries (37.96 percent), ahead of Western Australia (31.48 percent).
Queensland’s activity was mostly driven by Brisbane, which was the most popular destination in the state, accounting for one in 20 Australian property searches. But Queensland was also home to three of the 10 most sought-after locations on TheMoveChannel.com, suggesting that while a large majority preferred Western Australia’s Perth, the eastern state had a broader appeal.
New South Wales accounted for one in five enquiries and one in 10 respectively, with buyers mostly looking for homes in Sydney and Melbourne. Adelaide attracted 5.17 percent of buyers, enough to be the fourth most popular Australian location on the site, but the state of South Australia was responsible for just 0.92 percent of enquiries.
Tasmania and the Northern Territory were the least popular states, receiving no enquiries on TheMoveChannel.com at all in the last year.
Editor Ivan Radford said: “Australia has long been a top destination for expats looking for a new home. Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Perth are all regularly ranked among the world’s most liveable cities. That lifestyle reputation drives the majority of buyer interest on TheMoveChannel.com; it is no coincidence that those three are the most looked-for locations.”
“The surprise is that while many people searched for the main Australian cities, buyers tended to end up somewhere else during the purchasing process. Only 1 in 20 were looking to Brisbane, but Queensland was the most popular property market in terms of enquiries. Is it a relative lack of listings in certain areas on TheMoveChannel.com that drives them to other cities, or the discovery of lower profile locations that are not as well known among international tourists?”
“They may be flexible about where they will live, but buyers are very clear about what they want: it is unusual for a property type to appear in more Google searches than generic property-related keywords. Chinese investors are driving up investment in Australia real estate, but expats – particularly Brits – remain a big portion of the buyer market. With interest peaking at the start of a new year, as the weather worsened in the U.K., the focus upon “houses for sale in Australia” may well be the mark of expats already picturing their new, sunny life Down Under.”
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
Related Stories:
Chinese developer unveils coastal city in Iskandar
Foreign buyers snapping up Spanish homes
China’s new home sales slip in July