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The number of Australians looking to buy property outside of their home state increased by nearly 5 per cent in September.
Virtual tour platform Little Hinges released its Sight Unseen report in September, where the most recent data shows that interstate inspections have grown to make up almost a third (30 per cent) of all property inspections in Australia last month.
It highlighted that most interstate inspections are still looking at Queensland, with the Sunshine Coast just beating out the Gold Coast at 41 per cent and 40.5 per cent, respectively.
International data showed that most people wanting to move to the beach from outside of Australia are interested in the Gold Coast, where 8.1 per cent of buyers do their virtual inspections from outside of Australia.
In Brisbane, the number of virtual inspections is dropping, which the report said was likely due to property values remaining high.
It’s a different story south of the border, where the number of interstate inspections in Sydney has gone up by almost 2 per cent to 15 per cent.
According to Little Hinges co-founder and chief executive Josh Callaghan: “We’re continuing to see growth in both the number of people inspecting property virtually and the percentage of people inspecting property that’s located outside their home state or country.”
Moreover, what Mr Callaghan is now seeing is that “buyers want to be able to inspect the property in a way that works for them, and we’re seeing a strong uptick in agents wanting to combine virtual and physical inspections”.
He believes that the ability to check around the clock from anywhere in the world is crucial for those who are buying a property sight unseen or from another state or country, but he does anticipate it also being helpful for busy residents who can’t make the Saturday morning inspection.
According to the CEO: “As we continue to see house prices fall and buyers become more cautious with their offers, agents who tap into digital tools are able to open up their properties to a wider buyer base.
“Agents who can demonstrate to vendors that they are doing this are the ones who will ultimately win more listings.”
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