Eye-tracker reveals truth about house hunters real interests
Zoopla’s cutting-edge eye-tracking technology reveals house hunters spend more time looking at decorations than structure.
Zoopla is trialing eye-tracking software during the viewing process that follows what house hunters look at when they visit homes.
They were surprised to find that buyers spent more time looking at decorations than structure and spent just 34 seconds looking at a bedroom and 1.2 minutes in the kitchen.
And rather than focusing on important areas such as the condition of the boiler, water pressure or signs of damage or damp, house hunters were more likely to admire items that wouldn’t even be there when they moved in such as ornaments, furnishings and decorations. Mirrors, plants and pictures proved particularly popular.
In the hallway, while the coat rack, rug and ornaments were viewed for more than a second, structural elements of the property like the ceiling, flooring, radiator and walls in contrast were looked at for less than a second, or not at all.
Distracted
Many participants were distracted by the feature walls in the bedroom, returning their gaze up to 19 times in various rooms.
Despite being given a full tour of the house, trial participants were least interested in flooring, the roof and the ceiling – all important aspects that should be inspected before making a purchase.
Nor did participants bother looking at any of the radiators for more than 0.5 seconds despite them being key components of a home’s heating system.
The home’s structure including flooring and ceilings garnered a 38% share of attention but cosmetics and furnishings got 54%.
It has been fascinating to use cutting-edge technology to investigate the behavioural habits of buyers.”
Daniel Copley, Consumer Expert at Zoopla, says: “It has been fascinating to use cutting-edge technology to investigate the behavioural habits of buyers, so that we can equip them and sellers with the information they need to make confident decisions when buying and selling a property.
“For agents, the experiment provides insights for them on what their clients are really looking at when viewing a property.”
