Andrew Winter: Real Estate is Australia's Favourite National Sport

Australians are obsessed with all things real estate. It’s our favourite national sport, agrees real estate expert Andrew Winter. And it is more popular than netball (1.2 million participants), soccer (1.1 million), and AFL (1.4 million) combined.

Residz Team 3 min read

Australians are obsessed with all things real estate. In just six months we’ve visited two of the top real estate websites more than 81 million times. We spend around five minutes per visit browsing their wares like we’re in a candy store. We love attending auctions, watching reality TV shows about renovating, and discussing what the house down the road sold for. It’s our favourite national sport, agrees real estate expert Andrew Winter. And it is more popular than netball (1.2 million participants), soccer (1.1 million), and AFL (1.4 million) combined.

New property research tool

So a new property research website to stoke this national obsession is bound to be a crowd-pleaser. Andrew, who rose to fame on Selling Houses Australia and Love it or List it Australia, says he’s excited by the free consumer tool Residz.com.

“As somebody involved in the industry day-to-day it still surprises me just how hard it can be to do your research on a particular location,” he says. “You should want to know more than just the bedroom count and the proximity to the city; you need data”.

Residz was developed by data experts in Sydney, and is expected to become a major resource for both buyers and sellers.

Lifestyle data to look for

Property data is especially important during COVID-19, when there are rolling restrictions on travel and open inspections. In addition to the usual property prices and recent sales buyers should know lifestyle data affecting capital gain such as:

All are listed out on Residz.com when any address in Australia is typed into the search bar.

Development applications could affect decision

Development applications are another data point for buyers to know before they buy.

“What if there's a pending development application In your street with all that noise and disturbance?” asks Andrew. “Do you really want to live next to that for the next couple of years?”

He agrees much of this information has been publicly available but sees the value of Residz.com for buyers who don’t want to waste time hunting down needles in haystacks. Before Residz.com came along, they’d been searching through listing sites, grilling real estate agents, and logging into local government websites, to name a few.

Buyer demand rising

Time is of the essence for buyers. Buyer demand still outstrips supply with 1.4 properties being sold around Australia for every new one coming onto the market, according to Michael Yardney of Property Update. The PropTrack Buyer Demand Index shows the rise in buyer activity.

Prospective buyers can’t waste precious time

Andrew Winter says it’s handy if property buyers can see all the information they need in one place so they can make a confident decision about their new home or suburb.

“Type in a property address or suburb on Residz,” he explains, “and you'll be able to not just see average suburb prices and recent sales, if applicable, but you'll get an extensive list of lifestyle and risk information.”

Whether it is employment, local health amenities, nearby parks, internet speeds, crime statistics, or cultural and family demographics, each data point is within a few clicks of a chosen address.

“Best of all it's completely free”, he says. “With Residz you can learn more about where you want to live, or maybe more about where you live now”.