ople are delaying marriage and having children and staying in education longer. As a consequence young couples are the most likely to be first home buyers out of all income unit types (ABS, 1999). The ABS also states almost a third of households who owned their home outright were couples with no children. - 3 - 4.2 HOME BUYERS PREFERENCESAccording to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (1999), flats and apartments are the second most common type of dwelling in Australia, with 12% of all dwellings falling in to this category. With the numerous apartment and townhouse developments taking place in Pert this rate is sure to increase.A survey undertaken by the ABS shows that approximately 22.25 of all households in Perth intend on moving in the next three years and 56.7% of these within the next year. That is 156,600 households that are moving in the next year. Upon completion of the ABS survey it was found that the most common reasons for the preferred location of future dwellings were familiarity of area (76.6%), attractive neighbourhood (64.8%), wanting a better lifestyle (60.9%), quiet location (58.3%) and proximity to attractive geographical features (57.2%). When people have selected the area they then look for the right house to suit them. Appearance and layout will influence 73.8% of them, better residence will affect 57.1%, and home safety features will affect 42.5% of potential buyers (ABS, 1998). People choose to be more energy sufficient and safety conscious. When choosing a dwelling 27.4% look for natural gas, 26% want solar hot water and 23.7% look for insulation 4.3 DEVELOPERS Property developers seem to be concerned with one aspect that can influence potential clients into buying an apartment in a particular estate and that is a view. Other developments in the past in the present that fit the criteria given include East Perth, Subiaco, Northbridge, Central Perth, west Perth and to a lesser extent South Perth. When viewing cur...
