Forget bedrooms: report shows where homebuyers actually spend their time – realestate.com.au

When it comes to buying a home, a new report shows that it’s not always about the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and parking spaces.

Where buyers spend their time has been revealed in a new report from digital inspection company Little Hinges, which has released its first whitepaper: How People Actually Inspect Property.

Based on more than 12 million digital property inspections, the report delves into the spaces where potential buyers spend the most time, and the areas they return to repeatedly.

“Property decisions are still discussed as if inspections are a linear, 15-minute process,” says Josh Callaghan, CEO of Little Hinges.

“But the data shows that people are inspecting homes as they actually live in them: moving back and forth, re-entering key areas and spending time where value is being assessed.”

The study found that living, kitchen and dining areas consistently attracted the longest durations of engagement and acted as primary value anchors, while bedrooms and bathrooms functioned primarily as affirmation controls rather than decision-making spaces.

MORE: $1M buyer’s lesson after unexpected condo termination

Where homebuyers from Brisbane and Gold Coast are fleeing to

‘FOMO Tax’: Huge mistakes are made by reckless buyers

Kitchens were among the areas with the most buyer engagement

---

Entrances, corridors and circulation areas received “disproportionate attention”, indicating that perceived quality is strongly influenced by flow, orientation and first impressions.

Garages, offices and outdoor spaces are also emerging as meaningful differentiators, especially in lifestyle-driven markets.

It was further revealed that engagement patterns varied by state, reflecting differences in housing stock, climate and buyer expectations.

Nationally, the study found that open-plan living, kitchen and dining areas were entered an average of 65.2 seconds per visit and 3.1 times per user.

“This extensive involvement reflects the fact that kitchens and primary living areas are among the most expensive and complex areas to adapt, with fixed layouts, built-in cabinetry and integrated appliances,” the report said.

“As a result, buyers and renters use these rooms as a primary reference point when assessing whether a home will function day to day.

“When these spaces are combined into an open layout, involvement increases further.”

Bedrooms were an important feature for house hunters in NSW

---

By comparison, most other rooms average less than two entries per user.

“Viewers confirm that they are meeting expectations, but behavioral patterns show that these rooms mostly act as control points for hygiene factors, rather than as primary value anchors,” the report said.

“They are quickly assessed to confirm that they meet expectations, rather than being investigated in depth.”

Bathrooms and laundries show even shorter engagement, with average dwell times of 16.7 and 18.2 seconds per entry respectively.

“Together, this behavior shows that bedrooms and bathrooms serve as basic checkpoints in the inspection process: they should meet expectations, but they are not the spaces people rely on to interpret the rest of the home or refine their perception of value,” the report said.

The research also found that some of the strongest and most practical behavioral signals came from spaces often treated as “background” in real estate storytelling: entrances, hallways and circulation paths.

“Hallways account for a substantial portion of inspection time and record some of the highest re-entry rates in the data set, accounting for 16 percent of total inspection time, a greater share than any individual bedroom, bathroom or utility area,” the report said.

Outdoor spaces were also an important feature

---

Entry points also served as psychological “first impressions.”

“Property entry involvement increases with property price, indicating that higher value homes prompt more deliberate inspections at the point of entry,” the report said.

“In the $133,000 to $660,000 segment, dwell time at entry averages 17.1 seconds per visit, while re-entry rates are 1.8 times per user,” the report said.

“At the $1.5M+ level, entry dwell time increases to 25.9 seconds per visit and re-entry rates increase to 2.5 times per user.

“This is not purely aesthetic. It often depends on how the entrance connects to the rest of the house and whether the layout supports the experience people expect at that price.”

Garages and offices also emerged as ‘premium differentiators’.

“Garages and home offices are attracting sustained engagement with digital inspections, and this engagement is becoming more pronounced as expectations increase,” the report said.

This epic garage is located on the Gold Coast

---

Outdoor spaces are also attracting more and more attention as property values ​​rise, according to Little Hinges.

At a state level, Queensland house hunters are focusing on open-plan living spaces and spending the least time in detached kitchens.

Open design is popular with buyers in Queensland

---

Buyers in New South Wales spend the most time evaluating bedrooms, bathrooms and circulation areas.

“This behavior reflects the prevalence of more compact or vertical homes, with buyers and tenants using circulation spaces to assess the privacy of layout efficiency and separation between living and sleeping areas,” the report said.

Victorian buyers and renters had the longest dwell times in open-plan kitchens, dining and living areas: 77.1 seconds per visit, well above the national average of 65.2 seconds.

Kitchens were important to Victorian buyers

---

In Western Australia, kitchens and patios were the clear highlights.

WA buyers had a particular focus on patios

---

“Behavior reflects local expectations around lifestyle, housing typology, density and spatial priorities, reinforcing that perceived value is not universal, but is shaped by the way people actually move through and assess homes within each market,” the report concludes.

“For officers, this data provides a clear framework for prioritizing.

“Rather than presenting each space equally, inspection behavior shows which spaces anchor the value perception and which serve as a basic qualification.

“By understanding where attention is focused, agents can place the presentation, staging and marketing emphasis on the rooms that materially impact decision-making, price confidence and buyer or renter engagement in their local market.

“For developers, these patterns provide evidence-based direction for design and product mix. “Behavioral signals highlight where investments in layout, spatial relationships and functionality are most likely to be noticed and tested by the market.”