- Home buyers are increasingly interested in lifestyle properties in green areas
- Adelaide and Melbourne suburbs have seen most attention
- The most popular areas are within a one-and-a-half-hour drive of major cities
Home buyers continue to seek out lifestyle properties in green, open areas, a trend that has continued since the start of the pandemic.
According to PropTrack, the properties listed on realestate.com.au that continue to see the most interest from buyers are predominately based in lifestyle areas as workers continue to opt to work from home.
Adelaide and Melbourne have the most suburbs where buyers are chasing a better lifestyle while still being close to the city.
Locations with the strongest buyer demand according to PropTrack, include Upper Sturt and Medindie in Greater Adelaide and Kangaroo Ground, Gruyere, Belgrave South and Warrandyte South in Greater Melbourne.
While other popular locations include Chandler and Eerwah Vale in Queensland.
Top 10 most in-demand suburbs: Houses
| Rank | Suburb | GSSCA | SA4 | Potential buyers per listing |
| 1 | Upper Sturt | Greater Adelaide | Adelaide – Central and Hills | 536 |
| 2 | Kangaroo Ground | Greater Melbourne | Melbourne – North East | 484 |
| 3 | Medindie | Greater Adelaide | Adelaide – Central and Hills | 477 |
| 4 | Gruyere | Greater Melbourne | Melbourne – Outer East | 376 |
| 5 | Belgrave South | Greater Melbourne | Melbourne – Outer East | 363 |
| 6 | Chandler | Greater Brisbane | Brisbane – East | 351 |
| 7 | Mylor | Greater Adelaide | Adelaide – Central and Hills | 333 |
| 8 | Summertown | Greater Adelaide | Adelaide – Central and Hills | 328 |
| 9 | Warrandyte South | Greater Melbourne | Melbourne – Outer East | 314 |
| 10 | Eerwah Vale | Rest of Qld | Sunshine Coast | 313 |
Source: PropTrack.
Top 10 most in-demand suburbs: Units
| Rank | Suburb | GSSCA | SA4 | Potential buyers per listing |
| 1 | Bulli | Rest of NSW | Illawarra | 214 |
| 2 | West Pennant Hills | Greater Sydney | Sydney – Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury | 186 |
| 3 | Croydon South | Greater Melbourne | Melbourne – Outer East | 184 |
| 4 | North Plympton | Greater Adelaide | Adelaide – West | 183 |
| 5 | Seaholme | Greater Melbourne | Melbourne – West | 177 |
| 6 | South Brighton | Greater Adelaide | Adelaide – South | 175 |
| 7 | Semaphore | Greater Adelaide | Adelaide – West | 171 |
| 8 | Greenacres | Greater Adelaide | Adelaide – North | 169 |
| 9 | Albert Park | Greater Melbourne | Melbourne – Inner | 168 |
| 10 | Richmond | Greater Adelaide | Adelaide – West | 166 |
Source: PropTrack.
Green lifestyle
PropTrack Economist Anne Flaherty said prospective buyers in Adelaide and Melbourne are focusing on suburbs in the Adelaide Hills and scenic locations in Melbourne’s outer east and the Mornington Peninsula.
“Demand appears to be in green lifestyle areas,” Ms Flaherty said.
“If we look at Melbourne, it’s really that scenic outer East and the Mornington Peninsula that are seeing a lot of interest.”
Flaherty said the pursuit of lifestyle has been going on for a few years now.
“I think it’s definitely a continuation of that trend we saw emerge during the pandemic where a lot of people were rethinking where they want to live,” she said.
“And I think the fact that people are still more flexible with where and how they work has enabled people to move a little bit further away from their places of work.
“Because they’re working a couple of days from home now, so, I think for a lot of buyers, that commute time, that factors into where they choose to live is now not as significant as it used to.”
Remote work here to stay
Flaherty said it seems like remote working and hybrid ways of working are here to stay.
“So that will drive sort of a permanent shift in the way people work if they have, jobs that enable them to work from home,” she said.
“I think as well, what we’re seeing is that when it comes to these lifestyle style scenic areas, commute time does matter in the sense of people don’t want to be too far away.
“So the areas that are seeing the strongest demand are still within a one-and-a-half-hour drive time of a major city.
