REA Group Survey Finds Missing Prices To Be Biggest Search Frustration Among Users

According to the results of a survey released this week, listings that do not have a price are the biggest frustrations for users searching for a new home.

The survey was conducted by leading Australian portal operator REA Group and took into account the opinion of more than 6,000 users of the company's leading portal site Realestate.com.au.

Commenting on the survey results, REA Group Chief Product and Audience Officer Melina Cruickshank said

“We do a lot of consumer satisfaction research. This data consistently shows, listings that don’t have pricing displayed remain the number one source of consumer dissatisfaction on our platform, with a whopping 72% of buyers saying they would skip over properties that don’t include a price.

“Consumers are increasingly demanding greater transparency, particularly when it comes to price. Buying property can be a highly stressful process and home buying budgets are a big part of the search criteria. Understandably, consumers want to know where they stand early in the process.”

“We see so many real estate agents securing their next listing by being highly transparent in the way they market and sell their vendor’s property. This has been one of the more interesting aspects that continues to trend in our research."

REA Group did not say what percentage of the listings on its platform do not include a price but the survey results and the accompanying press release can be seen as a tactic the portal operator is using to push listing agents to always include a price on the properties they upload.

Prices are not currently obligatory for listings on Realestate.com.au but, as Cruickshank said, consumers certainly seem to want them to be.

“We run a two-sided marketplace, so we have the largest and most engaged audience, and the consumers really are our north star, so we have to keep listening to what they’re saying,” she said.

“And the verbatim coming through from all of our research is that we want prices mandated on our listings."