News Corp Australia
First published 28 Jan 2026, 11:30am
Garage space is the most important keyword for Hobart house hunters. Picture: Supplied
A home office? Solar panels? Pool? An outdoor kitchen?
There is a broad range of home features that people desire, but in Hobart, realestate.com.au data has found that one is more important than the rest: a garage.
While it might come as a surprise that a humble space to house a vehicle was No.1 on Hobart homebuyer’s wish lists, garages were ranked in the top three in every Australian city and major regional areas like Geelong, Gold Coast, Townsville and Cairns, too.
Garages remain a requirement for many buyers, with 91 per cent of households having at least one car and 55 per cent of households having two or more, according to ABS data.
There were about 560,000 more registered motor vehicles in January 2025 than the year prior, according to data from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics.
A property with a double garage, maybe a carport, too, is pretty easy to find in Hobart. But in Rosetta, No.3 Riverview Pde offers so much more.
This six-bedroom entertainer’s paradise has a nine-car garage.
It is a substantial garage and workshop space that also offers a built-in bar, separate toilet and ample room for storage or hobbies.
And the property has additional undercover parking in its three to four-car carport.
“The garage is 155sq m, it is the size of a house,” said Wolf Property director Cam Rogers.
HUGE: No.3 Riverview Pde, Rosetta.
The Rosetta home is also an entertainer’s paradise.
For those house hunting in the Huon, No.44 Porta Dr, Cradoc boasts a 20m x 16m garage.
This industrial scale shed has five roller doors at the front, and another at the rear — ideal for “motorsport enthusiasts, car collectors, mechanics, builders, tradespeople, or anyone seeking high-quality space for business, hobbies”.
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An awesome garage at No.44 Porta Dr, Cradoc. Picture: realestate.com.au
After garages, the next most desired home features in Hobart were ‘ensuite’, ‘outdoor area’, ‘airconditioning’, and ‘built-in wardrobes’.
The keyword search data showed ‘swimming pool’ had slid down the priority list to No.7.
For years, it has been among the most desired features, and has even topped the charts in the No.1 spot.
The largest increase in keyword searches was a 241 per cent year-on-year increase for ‘dual living’, followed by 231 per cent for ‘heritage’.
Ensuite ranked high on the wish list.
‘Self-contained’ and ‘rent’ keyword searches grew by 147 per cent and 107 per cent.
More property hunters are looking for ‘step free entry’, ‘elevator’, and ‘single storey’ (a 77-88 per cent increase), which speaks to an older demographic of house hunters looking at what is available on the market.
The rise in these accessibility-focused search terms may also suggest an increasing number of buyers are focused on finding forever homes that meet their mobility needs now and into the future.
Outdoor entertainment? Yes, please.
ABS population projections estimate the number of people in Australia aged 65 and over will more than double in the next 40 years to 10.56 million, increasing from 17.8 per cent of the population today to 24.3 per cent in 2065.
Most older people want to remain in their homes as they get older, according to the Royal Commission into Aged Care final report.
Homes with the features that buyers are increasingly looking for may be highly sought-after in the year ahead.
This could potentially give vendors of homes with these features with a point of difference that may help boost their sale price.
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