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The future of Australian suburbia and what it means for builders and property developers

Oct 22, 2020

Steven Kleina

The COVID pandemic has had many unexpected consequences, and for the army of office workers who once squeezed into CBDs around the country for work, there’s been a sizeable shift to working from home.

This inner-city exodus has led to a revival of many suburban shopping strips and communal areas, as those working from home seek local services and good coffee to break up the working day at home.

Many experts and industry commentators are predicting that there will be a fundamental shift in the number of people working from home in the future – even as we emerge from the pandemic. As a result, many homeowners are rethinking what they now actually need in a home.

Because many home owners are using their homes differently today than they were prior to COVID, home builders need to rethink what their standard home designs look like.

Home buyers will favour designs that facilitate how they now use their home, so more and more homebuilders will need to keep their fingers on the pulse of what the market is demanding. Rather than being reactive, moving forward home builders will need to innovate with truly smart designs, as simply offering standard cookie-cutter designs will no longer appeal to home buyers.

And this trend will also carry over to greenfield property developers, who will look to further incorporate convenience and amenities into their new communities to meet the new expectations of home buyers.

Suburban shift provides opportunities

In March, when seemingly overnight office workers set-up their workspaces in their homes, it felt like a very temporary situation. But as the months continue to wear on, it is clear that we aren’t looking at a quick fix. What was considered temporary will, for some, became a permanent arrangement.

“Home builders will need to innovate with truly smart designs, as simply offering standard cookie-cutter designs will no longer appeal to home buyers.”

In time many office workers will likely return to their high-rise towers, but some will never go back. Employers of all sizes will increasingly offer a hybrid model where employees work part of every week from home and part from the company office.

Company offices themselves will also change. The office towers of the future will increasingly be based around open plan shared office spaces as individual companies require less floor space as staff continue to work from home. Architects and commercial property developers will need to design around new requirements from tenants.

But not everyone can work from home in comfort. Residential builders and property developers will do very well coming out of the pandemic as suburbanites relocate to more suitable homes, or even knock down their existing home and rebuild. The builders and developers that anticipated the changing requirements of home buyers and have adjusted their offer accordingly will be the ones that most benefit.

Post-COVID suburbia

Social commentator Bernard Salt predicted a resurgence of the great Australian dream in a recent column in The Australian. “In post-corona suburbia, what matters is authenticity, reality, personal relationships, the home, and the community,” he explained.

He goes on to say that suburban Australia is springing to life as local retail strips are rediscovered, local businesses are being supported, bike paths and parks are being frequented – all injecting new life.

“In post-corona suburbia, what matters is authenticity, reality, personal relationships, the home, and the community.”

At the core of his premise is the fortressing of the Australian suburban home. Australian families are spending more time at home so they’re seeking numerous living areas that offer privacy, multi-purpose spaces, cosy alfresco areas, open-plan areas where the family can gather without being on top of each other, and media rooms for Friday night movies.

Icon Visual Marketing and the property sector

This is the sort of trend that we track at Icon because it’s pertinent for our clients in the residential building and property development industries to understand how the needs of their target audience are evolving. To plan effective marketing programs we need to understand important demographic shifts, like those caused by the COVID pandemic.

It’s a trend that is affecting both our local region in Sydney’s South West, but also the broader property market across the country.

At Icon we have extensive expertise and experience in the property sector. We know how to work with land developers and residential builders to help them achieve their goals. Over the last two decades we have helped bring to life some of the most successful new residential communities in South West Sydney and beyond, including Harrington Grove, Catherine Park Estate, and Gregory Hills.

As well as property developers, we have extensive experience with a wide range of homebuilders, from large builders (Beechwood Homes), to mid-tier niche builders (ANSA Homes), to specialist custom builders (Berkley Homes).