Telum Vox Pop: Why do Australians love reading about the property market?
The rapid growth of Australia's property market has made regular headlines in the nation's media over the past two years. Telum spoke to journalists who cover property every day, to find out their thoughts on why audiences are consuming more property content than ever before.
Jen Melocco, National Property News Director at Australian Community Media:
Property has long been most Australians' biggest investment both financially and emotionally, so it's always been of news interest. However, current house price growth has created a dramatic situation that literally affects every Australian, and audiences are hooked. We are seeing incredible growth in audience numbers at ACM for our property coverage and the company has this year invested in building a strong team of property journalists embedded in our titles across the country.
Of course, one of the big stories at the moment in the sector is the rise of regional property sales. As the only media organisation that focuses on what is happening in regional Australia, and has journalists on the ground in the regions, we are discovering and breaking incredible stories every day.
For example, our story with the highest audience for October was about a NSW South Coast street where AU$31 million of property has sold this year alone.
Liam Wignell, Editor at The Property Tribune:
It is no surprise that Australians are obsessed with property. For readers, it is not just about researching property to analyse their own situation - for many, it is entertainment, even a hobby, rolled into one.
People are curious about how others live and how much one is willing to spend on their home. Given residential housing here is valued at more than AU$9 trillion - more than the ASX and superannuation industry combined - it is truly an extraordinary time to cover the property market.
Grace Ormsby, Deputy Editor (Real Estate) at Momentum Media:
Property has both achievable and aspirational qualities, and I think it’s a mixture of both these reasons why Australians are consuming more property content than ever before.
Oftentimes a property is an expression of an individual or family’s characteristics and personality - as well as an embodiment of their way of life. With COVID-19 shifting the way people live, work and play over the past 18 months, there’s definitely been a shift in how people perceive property, even though that love affair with property was always there. If anything, the pandemic has strengthened the ideal of the "Great Australian Dream".
We’ve seen people lean into the idea that a home of their own can provide protection - physically, financially, emotionally, and otherwise. While that safety will forever be something humans crave, maybe it takes an unprecedented event that creates so much change and uncertainty to remind us so.
Samantha McLean, Managing Editor at Elite Agent:
Elite Agent is a publication for real estate industry professionals, and it's safe to say the pandemic has been a roller coaster for our audiences - creating a demand for content that we haven’t seen before in our eight years of publishing.
One moment, we’re reporting on eviction moratoriums, in-person auctions being banned and agents unable to perform the simplest of functions such as an open home. Then, with the lifting of lockdowns, we hear about all the records that have been broken, and agents reporting they are the busiest they’ve ever been. Of course, this is all simple supply and demand, as consumers have spent long periods of time evaluating their living arrangements.
Add to that the changes we’ve experienced in property values, economic conditions, where the investment hot spots are and so on, it stands to reason that consumers want to stay more informed when it comes to their biggest asset. Agents need to be the expert and try to stay one step ahead of their customers - so for this reason, the last two years have been pretty busy for us.
I don’t expect that to change in 2022 - with a federal election on the horizon, borders reopening, and moves by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) right now, it’s shaping up to be another interesting year in real estate and so the current appetite for property content in all its forms will continue.
Jen Melocco, National Property News Director at Australian Community Media:
Property has long been most Australians' biggest investment both financially and emotionally, so it's always been of news interest. However, current house price growth has created a dramatic situation that literally affects every Australian, and audiences are hooked. We are seeing incredible growth in audience numbers at ACM for our property coverage and the company has this year invested in building a strong team of property journalists embedded in our titles across the country.Of course, one of the big stories at the moment in the sector is the rise of regional property sales. As the only media organisation that focuses on what is happening in regional Australia, and has journalists on the ground in the regions, we are discovering and breaking incredible stories every day.
For example, our story with the highest audience for October was about a NSW South Coast street where AU$31 million of property has sold this year alone.
Liam Wignell, Editor at The Property Tribune:
It is no surprise that Australians are obsessed with property. For readers, it is not just about researching property to analyse their own situation - for many, it is entertainment, even a hobby, rolled into one.
People are curious about how others live and how much one is willing to spend on their home. Given residential housing here is valued at more than AU$9 trillion - more than the ASX and superannuation industry combined - it is truly an extraordinary time to cover the property market.
Grace Ormsby, Deputy Editor (Real Estate) at Momentum Media:
Property has both achievable and aspirational qualities, and I think it’s a mixture of both these reasons why Australians are consuming more property content than ever before.Oftentimes a property is an expression of an individual or family’s characteristics and personality - as well as an embodiment of their way of life. With COVID-19 shifting the way people live, work and play over the past 18 months, there’s definitely been a shift in how people perceive property, even though that love affair with property was always there. If anything, the pandemic has strengthened the ideal of the "Great Australian Dream".
We’ve seen people lean into the idea that a home of their own can provide protection - physically, financially, emotionally, and otherwise. While that safety will forever be something humans crave, maybe it takes an unprecedented event that creates so much change and uncertainty to remind us so.
Samantha McLean, Managing Editor at Elite Agent:
Elite Agent is a publication for real estate industry professionals, and it's safe to say the pandemic has been a roller coaster for our audiences - creating a demand for content that we haven’t seen before in our eight years of publishing.One moment, we’re reporting on eviction moratoriums, in-person auctions being banned and agents unable to perform the simplest of functions such as an open home. Then, with the lifting of lockdowns, we hear about all the records that have been broken, and agents reporting they are the busiest they’ve ever been. Of course, this is all simple supply and demand, as consumers have spent long periods of time evaluating their living arrangements.
Add to that the changes we’ve experienced in property values, economic conditions, where the investment hot spots are and so on, it stands to reason that consumers want to stay more informed when it comes to their biggest asset. Agents need to be the expert and try to stay one step ahead of their customers - so for this reason, the last two years have been pretty busy for us.
I don’t expect that to change in 2022 - with a federal election on the horizon, borders reopening, and moves by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) right now, it’s shaping up to be another interesting year in real estate and so the current appetite for property content in all its forms will continue.
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Telum media database
- Jennifer Melocco
- Samantha McLean
- Grace Ormsby
- Liam Wignell
-
Telum Media
1 contacts
100 media requests -
Momentum Media
11 contacts
1 media request -
Australian Community Media
30 contacts
14 media requests -
Elite Agent
3 contacts
2 media requests -
The Property Tribune
3 contacts
16 media requests
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