As lifestyle continues to be a driver of buyers’ purchasing decisions despite high interest rates, agents must become local go-to experts and understand the trends driving demand.
Agents wanting to stand out in a lifestyle-driven suburb need to immerse themselves in the area, becoming familiar with its most in-demand features while understanding trends behind sought-after features.
New data has shown the suburbs that are “buzzing” the most, based on proximity to dining, entertainment, fitness, outdoor arts precincts, and more, with Sydney City and inner south suburbs leading the way.
The Muval data, which analysed Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) regions on 17 factors spanning various lifestyle categories, ranked the most populated regions from most entertaining to most boring.
According to the results, the Sydney City and inner south area were the most attractive regions overall, recording a score of 71.8 out of 100, with stand-out features being events, eateries, and theatres.
According to Belle Property Surry Hills principal, James Perlowski, recent interest rates hadn’t significantly deterred buyers from seeking lifestyle suburbs, only the type of property they purchased.
Perlowski said Sydney’s Surry Hills area had seen immense change over the last few years, with new precincts and infrastructure being established.
“We’ve got Surry Hills Village, we’ve got all of Crown Street, which has been redone, we’ve obviously got the Metro going, and then seven years ago we had the light rail going,” he told REB.
“So we’ve had a heap of infrastructure, and that’s really cleaned up the inner city and made it a really nice area to live.”
Perlowski said buyers were particularly drawn to convenience and proximity to amenities like Centennial Park, Surry Hills Village, Oxford Street, and the city.
In particular, he said Surry Hills Village had made the East Redfern pocket extremely desirable, with prices having grown substantially over the last five years.
Coming in second place for top lifestyle suburbs overall, Melbourne’s Inner region recorded a result of 63.4, while Perth Inner similarly had 63.2, with events being the most attractive lifestyle feature for both.
Brisbane’s Inner City came in fourth place with a score of 62.0, with fitness dominating lifestyle appeal, while Victoria’s Hume region, in Melbourne’s north-east, followed with 59.2, best known for its cinemas.
To become the stand-out agent in a lifestyle suburb, Perlowski said agents should immerse themselves in an area, setting aside time on the weekend to visit the local amenities.
“On Saturdays, if you’re out at open for inspections, leave some gaps between them, or at the end of the day, drive around the suburb and visit some cafes or restaurants or certain parts of the suburb that are desirable,” he said.
Perlowski said he spent around 95 per cent of his week in the suburb, but had seen many other agents who didn’t seem to be as familiar with the region.
“They talk about a lot of these features, but they probably aren’t as familiar with them because they haven’t been in the area for as long or they haven’t lived in the area, or they haven’t sold as much here,” he said.
“So, I think referencing the highlights is great, but actually having personal experience as to why the suburb is great, I think it’s very, very important.”
In addition to immersing themselves in a suburb, Perlowski said agents needed to have a solid grasp of all market knowledge and to understand why certain lifestyle trends were occurring in certain parts of the area.
When creating a marketing campaign that drew attention to the local lifestyle, Perlowski said video and images were pivotal to storytelling in a way that emotionally resonated with buyers.
He said highlighting the benefits of the Inner City was a simple task, being ideally positioned near nightlife amenities, cafes, restaurants, access to the CBD, with relative affordability compared to eastern suburbs closer to the water.
“Just highlighting what we feel, depending on the part of the suburb you’re in, what we feel is the most important and desirable features of the suburb,” he said.
Despite Sydney’s city area and inner south topping the list, Sydney’s inner south-west recorded the worst result with a score of 6.2, with no particular lifestyle feature standing out to buyers.
Blacktown in Sydney’s west followed with 10.6, Perth’s north-west was third with 11.6, and Adelaide’s north came after with a result of 12.2.
Muval noted that the gap between Australia’s most and least “buzzing” regions was significant, particularly with Sydney’s city and inner south scoring more than 65 points higher than Sydney’s inner south west.
It said the data showed how access to factors such as entertainment, nightlife, dining, and events gave suburbs more “buzz” and lifestyle quality.
According to Perlowski, agents should also aim to bring attention to key lifestyle changes an area has experienced over time to elicit excitement in buyers.
“I would just highlight [to buyers] how much the area has transformed, and we’re only going to see that continue on with the South Waterloo precinct as well, which is pretty much just starting,” he said.
“And I mean it will be a long 10 to 15-year project, but that’ll transform that whole corridor of the inner city. So I think it’s just going to continue to improve and get better in terms of lifestyle,” Perlowski concluded.
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