New REA Group research surveying 2,016 new home buyers and considerers has found stark generational splits in what buyers want from a new house-and-land package.
Boomers prioritise location above all else, with 80% choosing their preferred suburb over other trade-offs, and 69% opting for a double garage over competing features. Younger buyers take a different view: 64% of Gen Z and 60% of Millennial buyers favour backyard space over extra bedrooms or car parking.
Block size also matters to buyers without children, with 47% of young, childless buyers and 55% of Millennials choosing a bigger block over other home features.
"When it comes to house-and-land packages, Boomers are all about postcodes and garages, while Gen Z and Millennials want room to live and play with backyards and bigger block sizes high up on the list," said REA Group industry editor Benn Dorrington (pictured).
The generational divide extends to apartments. Younger buyers are prepared to pay for lifestyle, with 56% of Millennials and Gen Z choosing buildings with gyms, pools, and spas over lower body corporate fees. Gen X and Boomers take the opposite approach, with 78% of Boomers preferring cheaper owners corporation fees over wellness facilities.
Boomers also show the strongest preference for larger living areas over a study (63%) and are the most likely to want a car park even if it means being further from public transport (67%). Gen X apartment buyers, meanwhile, favour extra storage over an additional bedroom (52%).
"In new apartments, younger buyers are leaning into wellness, with a majority prioritising buildings with gyms, pools, and spas, while Gen X and Boomers tend to preference lower owner corporation fees," Dorrington said.
Despite these age-based divides, one thing unites buyers across the board: neighbourhood basics.
"When it comes to where buyers want to live, all generations are putting easy access to shopping, green spaces and GPs at the top of the list," Dorrington said.
The findings come as demand for new housing continues to build nationally, with Dorrington pointing to a mix of factors behind the trend.
"Demand for new housing is climbing, driven by population growth, rising rents, first-home buyer incentives, decreasing build times, and the recent property tax changes in this year's federal budget," he said.
Dorrington added that buyer priorities shift not just by generation but by property type: "What home buyers want in newly built homes differs by generation, with priorities shifting depending on your age and property type."
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