More Australians prefer suburban living – new data reveals

Have you dreamed of living a house in the suburbs?

Well, according to the latest survey from Compare the Market, the majority of people across Australia, Canada and the United States would prefer living in suburbia rather than to live in a city.

The survey interestingly revealed that more Australians prefer suburbia compared to the other two nations.

In addition, older generations tend to favour the suburbs more so than younger generations, but that's not really surprising.

Interestingly, Millennials in North America tended to favour the suburbs less than any other demographic.

In fact, in the USA only 28.0% of Millennials preferred the suburbs, compared to 68.4% of Generation X – a 40% difference!

Overall, 77.8% of Aussies, 54.7% of Canadians and 57.2% of Americans favoured the suburbs over city living.

The survey also found that people who prefer the suburbs are split on whether they would enjoy living in the city instead, while people who prefer city living generally seem to be more open to the idea of living in the suburbs.

In total, 44.1% of Australians, 45.8% of Canadians and 42.1% of Americans who prefer the suburbs said they would be happy or mostly happy if they had to live in the city instead.

In contrast, 64.6% of Australians, 61.5% of Canadians and 73.0% of Americans who prefer city / central living said they would be happy or mostly happy if they had to live in the suburbs instead.

The survey also inquired as to the reasons people prefer city or suburban living.

People who prefer the suburbs largely value the quiet and relaxing atmosphere of the suburbs, while city lovers value the proximity to hubs and public spaces, and the ability to walk or bike instead of driving.

Compare the Market’s General Manager of Money, Stephen Zeller, said everybody has different priorities and preferences when it comes to housing.

He further said:

“While we may have only measured people’s attitudes towards two general living situations, it is important to remember that there are many others out there that we didn’t include in this survey.

Not to mention that every place is different, and even the idea of ‘the suburbs’ can mean different things to different people.

Even still, these results demonstrate a large appetite for ‘suburban’ living among the population of Australia and North America.”

About Leanne Spring Leanne is a highly experienced Buyers Agent in the Brisbane Real Estate market. Leanne became a passionate lover of property in 2001. Since then, both professionally and personally, she has been involved in all aspects of property including purchasing, negotiating, renovating, and selling.