The Real World of Renting 2014

THE REAL WORLD WORLD OF RENTING Commissioned by realestateVIEW.com.au in March 2014, a survey was conducted with 1,216 Australians via an online questionnaire. The survey asked buyers currently in the market for property to respond anonymously to 25 questions, with another 18 questions answered by current renters and those searching for a rental property. The survey sought to obtain a comparative overview of current sentiment on the housing market including pet peeves, lifestyle preferences (where people are looking to buy or rent, what type of properties and suburb features they're looking for) and affordability concerns (the biggest concerns, what they can afford, the tactics they're using to save and invest in property). Of the respondents that specified locations, the breakdown of locations were as follows: VIC (66%), NSW (19%), QLD (4%), SA (3%), WA (4%), TAS (3.5%) and NT (0.5%). The report also includes quantitative data from realestateVIEW.com.au and propertyDATA.com.au such as most searched suburbs, median house prices, auction clearance rates and days on market. DEMOGRAPHIC LENGTH OF TIME RENTERS have been in the rental market of renters KEY <1 year 29.9% 32.7% 1-<2 years 2-<3 years 27.6% Renting alone (singles and single parents) 10.8% Renting as part of a share house 3-<4 years 37.8% 6.7% 14.6% 4-<5 years Renting with a partner (including two-parent families) 5.2% At home with parents looking to rent alone 6.3% 5+ years 9.8% 12.2% Renting with a friend 3.8% At home with parents looking to rent with a partner REASONS FOR RENTING without intent to buy 49.8% I can't afford a deposit. 32.5% I can't afford mortgage payments. 18.9% Difficulty obtaining finance. 25.7% I think the market is overpriced. 16.5% I don't want to be tied down to one place because of a mortgage. 22.5% 28.7% I can't afford to buy in the areal want to live in. 12.1% I have already bought an investment It's cheaper to rent. FOR RENT property. THE PET PEEVES of renters BIGGEST HURDLES for renting property 58.5% 55.9% 59.7% 44.1% 37.8% 30.3% Not being able to make changes to the property. Competition Getting to opens 34.9% Property manager unresponsive. Application process 17.0% Reference 16.6% checks Income test Pet restrictions. Paying to fix things myself because it's quicker. MOST SEARCHED SUBURBS FACTORS INFLUENCING A RENTER'S decision to live in a suburb to rent (past six months) 53.9% St Kilda 3182 North Melbourne 3051 Richmond 3121 South Melbourne 3205 Neighbourhood safety South Yarra 3141 Brighton 3186 44.2% Brunswick 3056 St Kilda East 3183 Public transport access Prahran 3181 Port Melbourne 3207 34.7% Elwood 3184 Shepparton 3630 Carlton 3053 Fitzroy North 3068 Shops Hawthorn 3122 Preston 3072 34% Fitzroy 3065 Malvern 3144 Distance from work Northcote 3070 21.7% Close to family / friends TOP 10 MOST SOUGHT-AFTER property features - renters vs buyers FOR RENT FOR SALE # 1 Size of property 27.4% Big or good quality kitchen 19.8% #1 # 2 Big or good quality kitchen 26.5% 18.2% Garage / car space #2 #3 Air con / heating 26.1% 15.8% Appropriate size of property #3 # 4 Garage / car space 19.7% 15.6% Second toilet #4 # 5 Outdoor area 19.1% 14.0% Good floor plan #5 Good floor plan 13.2% 13.8% 9# Air con / heating #6 #7 Separate laundry 12.8% 13.5% Second bathroom #7 # 8 Age 11.7% 13.3% Outdoor area #8 #9 Storage 11.2% 9.1% Storage #9 # 10 Second bathroom 10.8% 8.3% Separate laundry #10 FOR RENT FOR RENT FOR RENT FOR RENT FOR RENT FOR RENT FOR RENT realestate vievw .com.au 2014