The Voice referendum, NRL grand final, war and untimely deaths dominate reading of news sites –
22 November 2023 – Spring is in the air which can only mean one thing – Australia’s love affair with housing begins, with 12.9 million people reading about homes and property in October, up 2.9% on the month prior, according to Ipsos iris, Australia’s digital audience measurement currency endorsed by IAB Australia.
In addition, major global and local news events including the Voice referendum, the NRL Grand Final wrapping up the footy season, the Hamas attack on Israel, the untimely deaths of Friends star Matthew Perry and comedian Cal Wilson and the murder of a young coach at St Andrew’s School in Sydney, saw consumption of online news content reach 20.3 million for the month of October.
The News category includes audience and time spent online on both general news and broader news content including weather, sport, lifestyle, entertainment, and business news.
The chart below shows the News brands’ ranking during October 2023 by online audience size.
In the Homes and Property category, the property search sub category rose by 3.4% in October as the Spring buying and selling season moves into full swing, with more than 12.3 million Australians using a property search website or app last month.
Almost all (98%) of the property search sub category audience is looking at residential property, evidence that the housing bubble in Australia is showing no sign of bursting despite interest rate rises.
Women were more likely to be using residential property search websites and apps in October and spent almost twice as much time per month searching than men, spending over an hour a month on average.
People aged 25 and over were more likely to be using residential property search websites and apps, with those aged 65 and over spending the most time. The over 65s were also more likely to be using commercial property search sites and apps, with Boomers looking at their existing and new property investments in the residential and commercial sectors.
The chart below shows the Homes and Property category brands’ ranking during October 2023 by online audience size.
Overall, Australians aged 14+ spent more time online, at 3.8 hours or 119 hours per month, during October which was up 3.3% compared to September.
The most consumed website and app categories in October were social networking at 21 million, followed by search engines (20.9 million), technology (20.9 million), retail and commerce (20.8 million) and entertainment (20.7 million).
Games was the fastest growing category in October, up +4.2% compared to September, followed by Homes and Property (+2.9%) and Health (+2.5%).
People aged 25-39 were the largest cohort online, while people aged 40 to 54 spent the most time online in October.
Ipsos iris, which officially launched in March 2023, provides accurate data about the 21 million Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services across smartphone, PC/laptop and tablet devices.