You don’t have to be a statistician or data wiz to use property data to assist you with your next property purchase. Property data can form part of your buyer’s tool-kit just like a professional investor or property developer does. There are lots of freely-accessible tools you can use. Data is everywhere so we have compiled a few go-to tools that you may find useful.
1. Property search - it goes without saying that the ability to search, find and compare properties has changed a great deal in the past ten years. Gone are the days where you had to comb through Saturday’s paper for the open for inspection times. By far the best property tools can be found on realestate.com and domain.com.au. You can search by postcode, street name, property type, number of bedrooms and so forth. You can save searches and build up a property portfolio for comparison reasons. Keyword searches are also useful as you can search for rented properties
2. Suburb profiles
The importance of suburb profiles can’t be underestimated as it allows you to make informed decisions by presenting you with all the facts in a way that is easy to understand. I particularly like Domain's suburb profile tool as it offers some comprehensive analysis demographic information to help you make a more informed decision and better understand the lifestyle factors affecting that suburb.
3. Historical sales data by suburb
Suburb sales data is useful as it provides historical sale prices anywhere from 12 months - five years. Suburb market reports offer an insight into how quickly or slowly properties are selling, whether they are selling via private sale or auction. These reports also keep you abreast with the factors affecting property prices and market trends and forecasts. This information can be vital to helping you decide the best time to sell or buy property. Some sites to try include:
4. Rental growth / yield
Realestate.com has a good investment property data that calculates annual growth, medium rental yield and rental demand. This is particularly useful if you are looking at an investment property. Download our Property Investment Checklist for more handy tips.
5. Comparative property guide
There are also a number of sites that offer comparative property data that can assist to research locations and estimate a selling prices that include:
- Number of property sales
- Vacancy Rates
- Median house prices
- Auction rates and clearance rates
- Consumer confidence rates
- Price estimates
Providers
Much of this property data is underpinned by data research companies like Corelogic Data, which is one of the largest provider of property information, analytics and property-related risk management services in Australia. Other sources for access reliable property data include government lands and title records, listing portals and property sites like realestate.com and domain.com.
- Domain
- Home Price Guide website (last sold report)
- My RP Data website (data provided for state and territory capital cities only)
- Property Data website
- Real Estate
- Real Estate View
- Real Estate Institute of Victoria website (top and bargain property prices)
The right property data can be the difference between making a sucessful property purchase and one that ypou come to regret. Contact us today to speak to a Mortageg Broker about your next property purchase.
