Online property searches are proving a popular pandemic pastime according to realestate.com.au, with their latest data revealing both buy and rent searches have increased significantly on this time a year ago.
According to their latest figures, search activity for properties to buy is up 5.3 per cent in the past week and is now 37 per cent higher than it was at the same time last year.
Noting this was promising news for vendors, realestate.com.au said buyer search activity is now just 9.1 per cent lower than at its 2020 peak in mid-February.
“Buyer search activity was higher week-on-week across all states and territories with the greatest increases recorded in Victoria and New South Wales, while the most moderate increases were in the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland,” they said.
“Every state and territory has recorded a year-on-year increase in excess of 30 per cent with the greatest jumps experienced in the NT and ACT, while the most moderate annual jumps were in QLD and WA.”
It’s a similar story for rental properties, with search activity also up 7.9 per cent this week and now 14.6 per cent higher than this time last year.
“The 14.6 per cent year-on-year increase is the largest jump since early August of last year,” realestate.com.au reflected.
“The weekly increase marks the second successive week in which the year-on-year increase was higher than the previous year.”
Again, the rental search figures are slightly lower than the 2020 peak with online rent searches topping out 19.3 per cent higher in mid-January.
All states and territories except the NT saw a rent search increase in the past week, with the largest weekly increases recorded in Victoria and NSW.
“Year-on-year data reflects the same pattern – down in NT but higher elsewhere. The largest year-on-year increases were recorded in ACT and WA,” realestate.com.au reported.
Summing up the data pattern, realestate.com.au noted Australians have remained interested in property throughout COVID-19, despite fewer properties coming onto the market.
“From a vendor or rental property owners’ perspective, it’s good news that people are actively looking at properties, even though the activity may not necessarily translate into a sale or rental immediately,” they said.
“Agents and vendors should note that although transactions will be lower throughout COVID-19, interest remains high and people appear to be planning their next move whether that be a purchase or rental.”
