The homes Kiwis are looking at online

  • 26/04/2018

New Zealanders are obsessed with homes - especially looking at other people's houses.

We used to look at open homes, but now we just jump on the internet - then maybe we'll actually go along and have a look.

It's a national obsession, with many homes being looked at 100 times a month on leading property data website homes.co.nz - even some that aren't for sale.

"You can really dive in, you can look at the council records and what it last sold for. It just gets you going, you know?" spokesperson Jeremy O'Hanlon told The AM Show.

Mr O'Hanlon says his site is going gangbusters - they're just two years old but has figures on 1.8 million properties and hosts a million sessions a month now.

"There's this sort of intrinsic motivation in people just to explore. Curiosity is what fuels social media."

"But the estimated values and the sales histories have really just given that another nudge - there's more data and more things to look at."

There's a slight skew towards females on the site, with women outnumbering men 60-40.

"Aucklanders are by far the hungriest I guess - 50 percent of our traffic comes from Auckland. But it's right across the board in terms of age," Mr O'Hanlon said.

And it's the most expensive homes that attract the most views - the top 20 properties viewed on homes.co.nz boast an average price tag of $3.9 million.

While it's a direct portal between buyer and seller, Mr O'Hanlon isn't sure that websites like his spell the end of the road for real estate agents.

"When you come to sell a home it's one of the biggest decisions of your life, so just having someone that's done this regularly and knows the journey - there's a lot of value in that."

Newshub.