COVID-19 has accelerated the long-term trend towards larger homes

We already know Australia has been building the biggest homes in the world, but coronavirus seems to have accentuated the thirst for bigger homes.

At the end of last year, the CommSec Home Size Trends report found that new houses built in Australia during the 2019/2020 financial year were on average 235.8 square meters, a 2.9% jump and the biggest increase in 11 years.

But recent analysis of realestate.com.au data shows COVID-19 has noticeably increased how much more people are paying for large homes relative to smaller ones.

REA Insights economist Paul Ryan said:

Owners of three-bedroom or larger homes have been the biggest winners in the upswing in prices over the past year.

With people spending more time in their homes in 2020 and an increase in working-from-home flexibility, many have reassessed what size home is right for them.

This has accelerated the long-term trend towards larger dwellings across the country.

More people are searching for large homes

COVID-19 led to a large share of people working from home throughout 2020.

REA Insights economist Paul Ryan said:

While many of the effects of the pandemic are slowly receding, one lasting change will be more workplaces granting work-from-home flexibility.

In response, many people, particularly CBD office workers, are reassessing how much time they will be spending at home and their need for more space, such as a home office.

RealEstate.com has already seen this shift in the sizes of homes people are searching to buy on their portal.

As you can see from the following chart the search for three or more bedrooms has increased from both houses and apartment buyers.

Property values have increased around Australia, premium people have been paying for large dwellings is also increased.

About Robert Chandra Robert Chandra is a Property Strategist at Metropole and has an intrinsic understanding of property markets backed by many years of real estate experience. This coupled with several degrees gives him a holistic perspective with which he can diagnose clients’ circumstances and goals and formulate strategies to bridge the gap.