What house-hunters’ search history tells us about Perth’s property market

A snapshot of the most-searched terms West Australian house-hunters used in 2025 has revealed a significant jump in searches related to housing affordability.

According to Domain, “pool” continues to be the most-searched term for people looking to buy properties in WA, followed by “view”, “granny flat” and “waterfront”.

Interestingly, “granny flat” has now overtaken “shed” as the most searched property addition, suggesting a shift towards flexible living requirements. “Shed” has now slipped to fifth place on the list.

Following an increase in interest in affordable or alternative living arrangements, the word “dual” rose from 11th place in 2024 into the seventh place over the past 12 months, highlighting a growing interest in multipurpose layouts for changing household needs.

Domain’s data also showed an increase in searches for the words “for sale”, which has now entered the top 10 and reflects more buyer attention on properties that are openly listed rather than set for auction.

“Land” was another big climber in the most-searched words, coming in at eighth place after not making the top-10 last year.

Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell said it was interesting to see some affordable angles coming through in the most searched keywords, not just in WA but at a national level.

“So in WA, ‘granny flat’ was at number three and ‘dual’ came in at number seven,” she said.

“That tells us that perhaps we are seeing more multi-generational living coming through with granny flats. Adult children staying at home for much longer periods of time or home based businesses – to work from home or the ability to have extra income.

“That’s also where ‘dual’ comes into it at number seven – meaning dual occupancy or something like a split block.

“Ultimately, that is people searching for something more affordable than a detached house on a parcel of land.”

At a national level, “granny flat” remained the fourth most-searched term, while “dual” jumped from ninth to fifth.

Serpentine has climbed the ranks from third place in 2024 to sit in the number-one spot for 2025, topping the list of most-searched suburbs.

Bedfordale came in second followed by Gidgegannup in third. Parkerville and Gooseberry Hill rounded out the top five after placing fourth and fifth respectively.

West Australians proved to be fiercely loyal to their home state, with 89 per cent of searchers exploring properties for sale within WA.

New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland were the three states with the majority of views with 3 per cent of WA-based searchers looking at each.

A total of 47 per cent of interest in homes in regional areas came from people living in the greater Perth metropolitan area, while only 4 per cent of regional buyers looked towards properties based in the capital city.

The most searched house type was a four-bedroom, two-bathroom with a double garage, while the townhouse variety that got the most attention were those with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and room for two cars.

Two-bedroom, one-bathroom and single garage units topped the list for the most-searched unit type.