Media Release

New research reveals 62% of home buyers don’t have a strategy in place when under the hammer

New research by St.George Bank reveals six out of 10 home buyers (62%) don’t have a strategy in place to help secure that winning bid, and nearly half (48%) admit to not being as prepared as they could be ahead of an auction.

The survey found more than half (55%) of Australians have missed out on purchasing their dream home, because it became too competitive during the buying process (55%).

The research shows the top three most difficult house hunting and buying processes are: making an offer or bidding at auctions (46%), evaluating what properties provide good value (44%), and choosing the suburb to buy in (44%). While over half (57%) say they’d be more confident about securing a home if there was an easier and simpler way to evaluate and compare properties for sale.

Ahead of attending an auction, one in two (51%) Australians experience anxiety and nearly half (48%) said they had negative impact on their sleep patterns.

Andy Fell, General Manager Retail Banking at St.George said the survey results show some Australians are finding it challenging to take steps on the property ladder.

“St.George understands that purchasing a home is one of the biggest investments in your life. In response to the research findings, we’ve created HomeHero – an online hub to help our customers be more prepared and make owning a new home, easy.

“HomeHero.com.au will help buyers make the right choices to set up for the future with a wide range of content from finding out if a property is a great deal, to knowing what to look for in building, pest and strata inspections.

“HomeHero is here to help make it as easy as possible for buyers to feel empowered and in control of their home buying journey,” Andy said.

Key findings from the survey

• 62.1% of respondents do not have a strategy in place when attending an auction.
• 56.8% of respondents have missed out on purchasing a property.
• The mains reason for missing out of a property is because it became too competitive during the offer period / bidding at auction (55.4%).
• 57.4% of respondents would you feel more confident in securing a property if there was an easier and simpler way to evaluate and compare properties for sale.
• When attending an auction, 48.2% of respondents didn’t feel as prepared as they could have been.
• Ahead of attending an auction, 51.1% of respondents experience anxiety, followed by insomnia (17.5%) and sweaty palms (16.9%).
• Activities/commitments respondents have missed out on by having to attend property searches or auctions are house work/cleaning (52.2%), catching up with friends (39.4%) and exercise (38%).
• The house hunting and buying processes respondents found most difficult were making an offer or bidding at auctions (46.3%), evaluating what properties provide good value (43.8%) and choosing the suburb they’d like to buy in (44.1%).
• Most respondents feel confident when it comes to knowing what to look for in a property inspection (49.2%), and organising a building inspection or strata (42.7%).
• During the house hunting process, 48.1% said sleep patterns had the biggest negative impact in their lives, followed by productivity at work (33%) and relationship with their partner (23.4%).

About HomeHero 
HomeHero brought to you by St.George, BankSA and Bank of Melbourne is a website with timely, relevant and easy-to-use information, including;

• Property and suburb insights such as estimated value of the property and comparable sales
• Step-by-step guides – from finding the right place, to moving in, and a calculator to estimate your borrowing power and total buying costs
• Information at your fingertips – HomeHero can be viewed across your mobile, tablets and desktop
• For more information go to https://www.homehero.com.au

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About the research: Conducted by Pure Profile, 1000 respondents were surveyed across Australia.

For interviews with Andy Fell and further information on the report please contact:

Media contact:

Dianne Edwards
St.George Bank
P: 02 9236 3521
M: 0405 623 014
E: edwardsdi@stgeorge.com.au