Perth home buyers are increasingly prioritising space, storage and the potential for extra accommodation over beachfront views, with pools, granny flats, land and workshops among the most popular searches this year.
The shift was identified in Domain’s Spring Homebuyer Report, which found buyers were looking for ways to gain more value and flexibility from their properties amid strong price growth across the Perth market.
Alice Stolz, Domain’s national property editor, said space had become “the ultimate luxury” for many buyers.
“What we’re seeing is that basically most Perth buyers are looking for space,” she said. “It’s not just pools. Basically, buyers are searching for other ways to add volume to what their parcel of land or home is.”
Interest in land and dual-living arrangements has risen over the past year, with granny flats and workshops climbing the search rankings alongside more traditional features such as swimming pools.
“Many people are kind of trying to get more bang for their buck in what they’re paying for,” Ms Stolz said. “So, even if they can’t sort of flex that much on price, can they find other ways to kind of have more value in that parcel of their property?”
Workshops and granny flats attract Perth buyers
The search trends reflect demand in areas including Mundaring and Kalamunda, which led Perth’s most sought-after regions in 2026.
Nigel Aldridge, a sales representative with Ray White Aldridge & Associates, said Kalamunda had undergone a demographic change, with younger buyers moving into properties built by older generations in the 1970s and 1980s.
He said the areas offered the prospect of a larger block and a substantial home at a price comparable with a smaller property closer to the city.
“You can do a whole lot on 1000 square metres or 2000 square metres,” Mr Aldridge said. “All of those things: granny flat, shed, pool, lifestyle. A lot of people want sheds and storage.”
Demand for multi-generational homes is also beginning to emerge. Mr Aldridge said some buyers had purchased properties intending to add an ancillary dwelling, while others had moved into homes shared with a child or an older parent.
“A multi-generational home has become, I wouldn’t say really popular, but certainly, it’s been creeping in, and we’ve seen the demand for that increase,” he said.
Ms Stolz said the interest in additional buildings and usable space also reflected the financial pressures facing first-time buyers.
She said buyers who had saved for a deposit might consider whether a compliant granny flat, workshop or shed could eventually be used to generate rental income.
“Often people then become quite creative,” she said. “They’ll think, if I get it compliant, could I potentially rent that out as an extra space to earn some income on the side as the owner of that property?”
Despite the growing focus on space, swimming pools remained the most searched-for feature in almost every Australian city except Canberra.
Ms Stolz said the result showed that buyers still valued homes that provided a private retreat, including a backyard large enough for a pool.
Perth was also the only Australian city to record annual growth in new housing and unit supply between June and August.
