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What makes a neighbourhood feel like home?

A new Life in Australia report, powered by global market research firm Ipsos and released today by realestate.com.au, attempts to answer this question, looking at the key factors that impact on quality of life in local communities.

Factors we feel make somewhere a good place to live in 2019

The report shows safety is at the top of most South Australians’ list when choosing a good place to live.

After that, we value high quality health services, affordable and decent housing, reliable and efficient public transport and access to the natural environment.

These were the top five attributes that study participants chose from a list of 16, ranging across transport, culture, education, health and environment.

How do we rate our local areas in terms of attributes including the economy, house prices, cultural amenities and congestion?

The report also ranks how people feel about certain attributes in their own localities, comparing their answers to those in similar surveys, dating back to 2015.

It shows South Australians are feeling more positive about the economy and their job prospects than they were four years ago.

But conversely, our confidence in affordable housing has dropped over the same time period.

We are also ranking our local areas lower on lack of road congestion (suggesting roads are getting busier).

And, while we are happier with our access to cultural facilities, such as museums, galleries and festivals than we were in 2015, the research suggests we feel less able to participate in sports and recreation this time around.

Realestate.com.au chief economist Nerida Conisbee says South Australia’s economy is growing, and house prices are on the up.

A growing economy vs housing affordability

Realestate.com.au Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee says the report finding are largely positive for South Australians

“Across Australia, people are feeling more confident (in the economy) and Adelaide is no exception,” she says.

Ms Conisbee says confidence in SA’s economy is increasing due to employment growth and government spending announcements in recent months, including on submarine building and the Australian Space Agency, which is to be hosted in Adelaide.

The finding that housing feels less affordable is disappointing but not surprising, Ms Conisbee says.

“We’ve hit the highest median recorded for Adelaide and we haven’t seen prices coming back,” she says

“It’s not great that housing is getting more expensive but people feel that job prospects are getting a lot better.”

“There’s always two sides to economic success — on one side people have jobs and on the other, it drives population growth which does impact on housing.

Ms Conisbee says increased road congestion also “makes sense” because “Adelaide is growing”.

Real Estate Institute of South Australia CEO Greg Troughton says he was not surprised by the report’s findings.

“The affordability issue seems to be a little bit higher given the other states but I guess South Australians keep demanding quality accommodation at an affordable price,” he says.

“Safety, and health infrastructure have always been a focus. The reliable public transport is disappointing but can be expected to be low as many south Australians look to other modes of transport.”

This article was first published in www.realestate.com.au. Here is the link to the original article: https://www.realestate.com.au/news/a-new-survey-shows-how-south-australians-feel-about-their-neighbourhoods/