Property website Zoopla has released the keywords that prospective homebuyers are most likely to use when searching on the site.
‘Garage’, ‘garden’ and ‘parking’ were found to be the three most-common searched for terms.
‘Bungalow’ is fourth on the list as an increasing number of older people seek to live on one level. House hunters searching for space and privacy put ‘detached’ in fifth place, while ‘annex’ ranked as the sixth most popular search term as Brits look to house multiple generations or growing families.
The property portal also revealed significant regional variations, with many of those looking for homes in the South West hoping to acquire a coastal retreat, with ‘sea view’ and ‘cottage’, while in the East of England, property searchers are after a rural idyll with ‘acre’ and ‘rural’ high on their list of priorities along with ‘pool’.
Londoners searched for ‘garden’ more than any other term despite outside space coming at a premium. London’s higher property prices, and its less affordable market for first-time buyers, is shown by ‘Help to Buy’ also making the list, and there’s clearly an appetite for ‘freehold’ property with this term making it into the capital’s top ten.
Home hunters in Yorkshire and Humber are keen to embrace country living, with ‘rural’ and ‘acre’ making their top ten list of most searched for terms while in Scotland, people value their privacy with ‘secluded’ being a key priority when searching for a property.
Andy Marshall, chief commercial officer at Zoopla, commented: “Keyword searches are a useful gauge of home buyer priorities, and offer an insight into how people are living today. They can also inform agents on which attributes to highlight in a listing, which in turn enhances searchability amongst home hunters.
“The prevalence of ‘garage’, ‘parking’ and ‘driveway’ demonstrates that the ability to park a car can determine whether or not a buyer will arrange a viewing. Gardens are similarly popular, and should always be mentioned in a property’s listing.
“There are some interesting regional nuances that are worth considering, too. ‘Rural’, ‘acre’, ‘secluded’ and ‘annex’ aren’t necessarily front of mind when writing up a property, but prospective buyers in certain regions are clearly associating them with their property wish-list.
“Buyer preferences evolve over time, and ‘electric car-charging point’ and ‘smart home’ will no doubt emerge as search priorities in due course, particularly as eco-living and automated properties become more mainstream.”