Kitchen appeal: Women outnumber men in home-ownership stakes
Woman have edged in front of men when it comes to Australian home ownership, according to figures compiled by the ABS from 2011 census data.
The data shows that 61% of women own their own homes compared with 58% of men who have embraced the great Aussie dream.
The gap is even wider among singles, with 65% of single-female households owning their own home compared with 55% of single-male households, the ABS figures obtained by the Herald Sun reveal.
This has led to changes in the way estate agents are marketing properties given the rise in home ownership among the fairer sex.
Ferntree Gully real estate agent Billy Schroeder told Property Observer that more vendors are staging properties as a result.
“It’s more like a display. Especially in the kitchen, a lot more people are baking cakes and burning candles,” he said.
The release of the ABS data comes as a new survey found that the kitchen was the most important room for all prospective homebuyers, but especially so for women.Nearly 49% of 612 prospective homebuyers surveyed online by mortgage broker Loan Market picked the kitchen as the most important room when attending an open home inspection.
Around 59% of female respondents picking the kitchen as their most important room in the house compared with 37% of men.
Conversely and not surprisingly, 56% of men picked the living room as their most important room in the house compared with just under a quarter of women.
Schroeder said female property buyers are distinctly different to male buyers, as they are “a little bit emotionally attached.”
He also noted that female buyers tend to focus more on the kitchen and outdoor entertaining areas, while male buyers tend to gravitate towards the living area – as highlighted in the survey.
Loan Market spokesperson Paul Smith says the results of the survey shed some important insight into the real estate market as buying activity accelerates into autumn and as auction clearance rates continue their strong results.
“We’re seeing a steady stream of confidence return to the real estate and home finance market and with lots of great stock on the market buyers are going to be very selective on the properties they inspect,” Smith says.
Smith says many buyers wouldn't necessarily be assessing a property on its existing fixtures and features but rather its scope for renovations and improvements.
“Often when a buyer shows interest in a property it’s because of the potential they see in certain rooms of the house or unit. Today’s buyers have become astute at assessing how much effort and additional money may be required to get the property to that point,” he says.