Sold! – Six in 10 Aussies visited homes & property websites or apps in January amid regional housing surge – Ipsos iris data

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Sold! – Six in 10 Aussies visited homes & property websites or apps in January amid regional housing surge – Ipsos iris data

Nearly 21 million people used a news website or app in January

 

23 February 2026 – More than 15 million Australians flocked to homes and property websites and apps in January, as they used the new year, combined with strong market momentum, to actively search for a new home, according to Ipsos iris data released today.

The start of 2026 saw 15.1 million Australians, or 68.2% of the online population aged 14+, visit a home and property website or app in January, spending around 43.2 minutes consuming home and property content online throughout the month. The category led year-on-year growth, rising 5.3%.

Women drove the growth in home and property online content consumption, representing 54% of the audience and spending an average 50.22 minutes per month, compared to 46% of men who spent 35.12 minutes per month on category.

Regional Australia led the charge, with audiences up 15% year-on-year in regional NSW, compared to Sydney’s 3.6%, and in regional South Australia and the Northern Territory, combined reach was trending up by 11.4%.

Victoria also recorded strong growth, with both metro and regional audiences increasing their visits to the home and property category. Melbourne audiences rose by 12.5% year-on-year, up 7.9%, while regional audiences increased by 13.2%, with reach growing by 6.1%.

Other states had more mixed results – in Queensland, Brisbane audiences grew by 8.4% but regional audiences declined by -3.8%. In Western Australia, audiences declined by 4.1% and 3.6% for metro and regional audiences, while both audiences also fell in Tasmania, however reach increased by 11.3% for metro and 4.3% for regional.

The chart below shows the homes and property brands’ ranking during January 2026 by online audience size.

 

More than nine in 10 Australians consumed online news content in December

A total of 21.3 million people used a news website or app in December 2025, reaching 96.5% of online Australians aged 14+, and spent an average of 3.3 hours per month consuming online news content.

Major local and international news events continue to see Australians turn to news websites and apps for major local and international news events. Locally, online news was dominated by the Bondi Beach terror attack which generated immense and sustained coverage across all news platforms. The narrative evolved from initial breaking news and live updates to stories focusing on the victims, the heroic actions of bystanders, and the political and social fallout. The sheer volume of articles and time spent as the tragic event unfolded indicated that this story captured the nation’s attention more than any other.

Other local news driving consumption was the ongoing trial of Tom Silvagni and his rape conviction, the personal life of AFL player Lachie Neale and his marriage breakdown, plus sporting events including the Ashes cricket series and the AFL trading season and draft picks.

Globally, stories related to the British Royals garnered interest, as well as the death of film director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle, the continuing release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, live scores, fixtures, and league tables for the Premier League football, and major boxing events, including the Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua fight.

The chart below shows the News brands’ ranking during December 2025 by online audience size.

Homes and Property category records biggest audience increase in January

The homes and property category topped year-on-year growth for January, jumping by 5.3%. This was followed by search engines and entertainment (both up +3.3%), social networking (+3.1%) and retail and commerce (+3%).

Ipsos iris, Australia’s digital audience measurement currency endorsed by IAB Australia, showed that a total of 22.127 million Australians aged 14+ used the internet in January and spent an average of 5.06 hours daily online, up 5.1% compared to the same time last year.

The most consumed categories in January were search engines (22.06 million), social networking (22.05 million), online media (22 million), technology (21.9 million), and retail and commerce (21.8 million).

Ipsos iris provides accurate data about the 22.127 million Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services across smartphone, PC/laptop and tablet devices.

 

Notes for editors:

  • Ipsos iris is an independent source of truth for the media industry providing a level playing field for comparison of audience reach and characteristics and supporting the $17.2 billion Australian online advertising market (Source; IAB Australia Internet Advertising Revenue Report prepared by PWC FY25)
  • Ipsos iris provides accuracy in solving cross-device deduplication, the biggest challenge in measuring online audiences, using a single-source multi-device panel measuring activity on 8,000 smartphone, PC, laptop and tablet devices
  • Ipsos iris provides accurate data about the number of people who visit the content of digital publishers and platforms, along with the frequency of visits and time spent by tracking digital audience behaviour across desktop/laptop, smartphone, and tablets.  It uses a hybrid methodology that combines metered data from a high quality, nationally representative, single-source passive panel with site-centric census measurement via media owner tagging.
  • In February 2024, the CTV audience currency integration from a data partnership with OzTAM launched, providing total unduplicated digital audience currency data for BVOD across CTV, smartphones, tablets, and computers.
  • In August 2024, enriched YouTube audience reach and watch time data for Connected TV across mobile, desktop and tablets was integrated into Ipsos iris, in collaboration with Google and IAB Australia.
  • Ipsos iris is fully privacy compliant and cross-media ready and will continue to evolve with a roadmap of enhancements over 2024 and beyond. It will also be adaptable to changing requirements as the industry develops in future years.
  • The launch of Ipsos iris with monthly data from January 2023 was the culmination of extensive work by the IAB and its Measurement Council that commenced in early 2021 with a strategic review of industry requirements. Ipsos was awarded the IAB’s endorsement, having best met the standards on criteria across all areas of product along with criteria for operations and a future roadmap.
  • Further information can be found at: https://iris-au.ipsos.com/