How long does it take Australian home buyers to find the perfect place?

Based on the responses from a recent View.com.au survey of property purchasers, it currently takes home buyers just over two years to move to purchase a home via the stages of dreaming, consideration, actively looking at, and purchasing property.

The View.com.au report found it took three months less time to move through the path to purchase property journey in 2024 than in 2022 when the property market was experiencing a post-COVID boom.

However, it took potential property purchasers longer to finalise a purchase in 2024 than 2022, suggesting that it may be harder for Aussies to fully commit to the idea of purchasing a property in the current economic climate.

Although they are quicker to complete the sale once they have found their perfect property, buyers are spending longer ‘dreaming’ and ‘considering’ to make their final property shortlist on the path to purchasing their dream home.

The research shows it takes the Australian property purchaser an average of 8.1 months in the ‘dreaming stage’ — when they are casually browsing View.com.au sales listings without actively researching, followed by 7.2 months in the ‘consideration stage’, which is when people are starting to research properties with solid criteria for purchasing.

The increased length of time it takes to finalise the property sale suggests that purchasers are spooked by increased interest rates and economic uncertainty, requiring further research and analysis before deciding to jump into the property market.

The ‘active stage’ (when prospective property purchasers have narrowed their searches and inspected properties that they want to buy) took 6.2 months on average to complete, which is down 1.5 months in 2022 at the peak of the post-COVID property boom when interest rates were at all-time lows.

The ‘purchase stage’ is the final stage, when prospective property purchasers are putting an offer in and buying a property, which on average took 4.4 months, a two-month improvement from 2022.

If the supply of housing can increase and consumer sentiment improves with stable or reduced interest rates, it is possible that we see the time to complete the purchase journey fall back to under two years.

Who is in the market?

The View.com.au survey also revealed the types of people who are on the path to purchase a property.

66 per cent of respondents are looking for residential properties are couples with or without children, and 35 per cent aged are between 35 and 54 years.

When it came to property purpose, 67 per cent are looking at buying a property to live in, compared to 27 per cent looking for an investment property.

We also saw a distribution of respondents from first home buyers, downsizers, first time property investors, additional investment buyers, larger home upgraders and those looking for a sea/tree change.

Of the first home buyers, 36 per cent are couples with no kids, and 21 per cent of people are living in a shared household.

Downsizers are predominantly couples with no kids, who make up 66 per cent of that cohort.

Those seeking a sea or tree change are mostly couples with no children, followed by couples with children and people living alone.

How does this impact the property market?

You could make an argument that less time to buy indicates a slowing property market, which would align with the thinking of a lot of property experts.

But I think that economic uncertainty is driving many potential buyers to solidify their financial positions before entering the market. This could lead to a smaller pool of active buyers, resulting in faster purchase times.

According to Alexis Geroge CEO of AMP, we’re about to bear witness to a wealth shift of seismic scale which brings with it a range of socio-economic implications that warrant deep analysis and consideration.

As we see the population age and one of the biggest generational wealth transfers begin, to the tune of $3.5 trillion over the next 20 years, apartments, aged care and retirement living communities will see higher demand, whilst larger houses that have been held for generations will likely be put on the market or be passed onto the next generation.

It plays into the generational stereotypes of millennial couples looking for their first home, bidding against cashed-up empty nester boomers looking to downsize as the two major path to purchase players in the residential property market.