What Women Want

By Eynas Brodie

Property is the number one investment choice of Australian woman, according to new research released exclusively to API.

Throughout time, men have been trying to figure out what makes women tick.

Splash Consulting Group has been able to fill in some blanks after conducting an online survey of 1200 women nationwide earlier this year, as part of its ongoing research into the hearts and minds of Australian women.

Here we'll look at some of the findings of the Splash Butterfly Effect Property Report, which focuses on the property industry, and trends and opportunities relating to issues facing the sector.

"One of the key reasons why women are growing force in the property industry is that they favour property as their preferred investment option," reveals Amanda Stevens, Managing Director of Splash. "They are both most comfortable and confident with property as an investment option.
Indeed, the survey shows 47 per cent of women have faith that property will deliver them the highest return, with stocks and shares coming a distant second (16per cent), followed by superannuation (15per cent).

Similarly, 38 per of the women polled felt property was the safest asset class to invest in.

Women in NSW are the least likely to believe property is the highest returning option, probably a reflection of Sydney's inflated market, Stevens says.

"property was considered particularly safe by single women with children living at home (43 per cent)and women living as a couple with children not living at home (51 per cent), as opposed to single women with no children (26 per cent)."

Confidence in property is reflected in ownership trends, with six in ten women surveyed (57 per cent)currently owning property.

"Not surprisingly, the likelihood of owning property increases as women enter different life stages," Stevens says.

"Interestingly, self-employed women are far more likely to own their own property versus six in ten (56 per cent) employed women."

For self-employed women the home maybe doubling as an office.

"In view of the growing wealth among women and comfort with the property market, it comes as no women own multiple properties," Stevens continues. "Almost one in five women (19 per cent) currently own two or more properties. This figure in fact increases to more than one in five (23 per cent) among women aged 25 to 29 years," she says.

What is surprisingly is that few women feel the property industry caters to their needs.

"The majority of women (68 per cent) believe that the industry only cares about their profits," Stevens says. "Despite women representing an increasingly important marketing opportunity for the property industry, only one in ten women believe the property industry in Australia caters to the needs of women."

This is despite the fact that women are increasingly buying property on their own.

"Influenced in part by women marrying later, many aren't waiting for a partner to buy property," says Stevens. "They may keep their options open, but regardless, they're making plans to purchase property."

The survey found the average age at women bought their first property was 27.6 years. Almost half (49 percent) had in fact bought their first property at the age of 25 or younger.

"Today, single women have a greater proportion of their wealth tied up in property than men," Stevens says.

"Splash's survey found that 38 per cent of single women own property. This trend is reflective of figures in the US where single women bought one out of every five homes sold in 2005, more than twice the number bought by single men.

"Younger women are also most likely to own an investment property. Of the women surveyed, 22 per cent ages 25-29 years own an investment property compared to 7 per cent of 30 to 39 year olds and 14 per cent of 40 to 19 year olds."

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