Finding The Middle Ground

l a i n n e ll i M MINUTE

FINDINg THE MIdDLE GROund

Tyler Feder works at member organisation Frasers Property Australia and is participating in the Institute’s 2020 Mentoring Program. She has recently made the SINK to DINK leap and shares her experience.

Tyler Feder

hours in a Saturday for open homes. We needed to knuckle down and make some decisions; inner city or suburbs, unit/townhome or house and land, renovator or ready to move in.

Frasers Property Australia

Neither of us had lived in Brisbane long enough to establish strong ties to either the north or south sides. So, when it came to location, our biggest priority was proximity to the CBD. I am proud to have joined the homeowners club only a few months ago.

Together with my partner, we set out into the market as first homebuyers with a very broad scope of what we wanted. If it had four walls, a roof, two bedrooms and a patch of grass for our small dog, we would live in it—or so we thought.

Eventually, it sunk in there are only so many

Starting out in share houses in the inner-city ring, access to high amenity and a prompt commute to work was what we had come to know. However, not unsurprisingly, it was not what we could afford. Or not entirely anyway.

Our options were a unit, townhome or serious renovator in our ideal location.

While maintaining our lifestyle was high on our agenda, we had grown up being told,

“buy land, they’re not making any more of it.” So, we had to consider if we were going to join the many young people before us and move to the suburbs to afford house and land.

Owning any kind of property seemed like a financial step forward, but the price growth on land made it a very attractive first step.

In the end, we were able to find middle ground—a 607sqm block, 10 kilometres from the CBD. I am very happy with where we ended up, but I can see now, with a bit of hindsight, that our ideal dwelling would have been a small lot, close to amenities, and the CBD. Emphasis on the small. The less square metres to maintain, the better. I wasn’t planning on entering the ‘Bunnings every weekend’ phase of my life so soon, but here I am.

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Research Foundation Partner

When SINKS become DINKS

The Institute’s Research Foundation, with the support of Construction Skills Queensland and the Industry Leaders Research Group, has conducted a significant body of work exploring housing preferences based on a buyer’s stage of life. This seminal piece of research continues to guide our research activities and underpins work related to community attitudes to development and growth.

A lot of assumptions are made within the industry and government about what product people are seeking with little hard evidence to back this up. We have tested these assumptions to remove the guesswork for our members and arm them with buyer knowledge.

This was a landmark study designed to paint a big picture of housing product preferences in the context of buyer lifestages as owner-occupiers.

This information helps our members understand why people prefer and choose certain locations and housing products, as well as why they avoid or reject others. At the heart of this research was understanding how people perceive and position new versus established suburbs as well as new versus established housing.

SINK insights Footloose and fancy-free people on a single income with no kids are referred to as Single Income No Kids a.k.a. SINKS. This is the first stage on the lifetime property cycle. If you’re targeting this group here’s some insights into their preferences. SINKS are living in the moment and looking at options. To them home ownership is a massive step and debt is an obstacle. As a result this stage is characterised by renting.

At this lifestage, SINKS have high lifestyle mobility and they seek cultural pursuits and access to lifestyle via cafes, markets, dining out, and boutique shopping.

On this basis they choose established apartments, townhouses or houses to live in and usually in established areas close to all the amenities they are seeking.

DINK insights When people partner up and combine incomes they are known as Double Income No Kids a.k.a DINKS. This is the first life stage where they become buyers. They still have the high lifestyle mobility they enjoyed as singles, but

they are looking to settle down. They have been working hard and need to start making some decisions but don’t want to give up their current lifestyle.

The decision to have a family or not influences their next move.

If DINKS are still renting they prefer new apartments in established suburbs, which aligns with their desire to be rewarded and still enjoy life close to cultural pursuits. If they are looking to buy, DINKS favour established homes or townhouses in established areas.

Buyer lifestage impacts what preferences they have in terms of product (new versus established) and location (established suburbs versus greenfield communities).

Segment your prospective buyers based on lifestage as they have different motivations dependent on where they are on the lifetime property cycle.

Finally, perception is everything. Buyers have clear views on the positive and negative perceptions of new and established product and locations.

Understanding these perceptions will help you successfully position your product in a competitive market.

Disclaimer: This report has been prepared for the general information of the Institute’s members and stakeholders. However, the Institute is not liable to any person or entity for any damage or loss that has occurred or may occur in relation to that person or entity taking or not taking action in respect of any representation, statement, opinion or advice referred to herein.

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