"Buying a new home is a major task. The financial side of things is often discussed, but the physical and mental excursion required often comes as a surprise, especially to first-time buyers"
- Steve Foreman - The Property DriveBuy
New research from The Property DriveBuy shows that the average homebuyer travels 330 miles to find their ideal property. This figure accounts for the distance from their current home to the viewing area as well as travel between multiple property viewings.
The survey of UK homebuyers, commissioned by The Property DriveBuy, found that buyers typically travelled 26 miles from their home to the area where they were viewing properties, equating to a 52-mile round trip. On average, homebuyers viewed two properties per day, with an average distance of three miles between each property.
Most buyers spread these viewings across six separate days, resulting in a total average distance of 330 miles to secure their preferred property.
Calculation breakdown:
52-mile round trip from the current home to the viewing area
Plus three miles between each property on average (two properties per day)
Total distance per viewing day: 55 miles
Over six viewing days: 55 miles × 6 = 330 miles
Despite the extensive travel, buyers appear content with the effort required. Around 78% said the distance was about what they expected when beginning their search, and 89% reported they would not change their approach in hindsight, accepting that legwork is part of the property-buying process.
“Buying a new home is a major task. The financial side of things is often discussed, but the physical and mental excursion required often comes as a surprise, especially to first-time buyers,” said Steve Foreman, founder and CEO of The Property DriveBuy.
He added that long journeys need not be wasted. “While the many miles you have to cover to find your dream home is an unavoidable reality, especially for those moving to a completely new town or city, those miles on the road don’t have to go to waste. The Property DriveBuy app enables buyers to set live alerts along their route and uncover hidden property opportunities they’d never have known about before due to the restrictive search criteria dictated by traditional property portals. So while you may have to hit the road to find your next home, now you can make the journey work for you.”
