The Burrow
Jun 19, 2025
What’s in a dream home? Whether it’s location, size or specific features, everyone’s idea of a dream house is different.
The home loan experts at Compare the Market Australia wanted to understand which home attributes are the most desirable for people across various walks of life. To do this, we surveyed more than 3,000 people across Australia, Canada and the United States to see what people want most in a home, and which home attributes people cared the least about.
Here’s what we found.
Maybe unsurprisingly, the majority of people across each country surveyed find detached houses the most desirable type of homes to live in or own.
Australians in particular found detached homes very desirable, with 73.8% of Australian respondents seeing detached houses as their housing goal, compared to 56.3% of Canadians and 66.2% of American respondents.
In comparison, Canadian and American respondents tended to value apartment living higher, with 27.5% and 19.5% respectively valuing apartments the most, compared to only 15.4% of Australians.
Townhouses and duplexes saw the lowest level of desirability across each of the countries surveyed, with duplexes in particular seeing the lowest placement across each country.
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 🇨🇦 Canada | 🇺🇸 USA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached house | 73.8% | 56.3% | 66.2% |
| Apartment | 15.4% | 27.5% | 19.5% |
| Townhouse | 9.5% | 13.5% | 10.4% |
| Duplex | 1.3% | 2.8% | 3.9% |
Note: Values may not add to 100% due to rounding
Multiple bedrooms emerged as the most popular home attribute across each of the countries surveyed, with 39.0% of Australians, 44.5% of Canadians and 47.4% of Americans valuing it highly.
Maybe unsurprisingly, Australians highly value air conditioning and heating (37.0%) almost as much as they do multiple bedrooms, due to the country’s warm climate. Australia’s third most valued home attribute was large bedrooms, with over a quarter (28.3%) placing high value on spacious sleeping spaces. Australians tended to value backyards (24.4%) much more highly than front yards (5.2%), and ensuites (25.9%) more highly than multiple bathrooms (22.5%).
In Canada, multiple bathrooms (29.6%) and large bedrooms (27.2%) were the second and third most desirable home attributes. Backyards as well as air conditioning and heating emerged as tied fourth most desirable home assets, each at 27.1%. Canadians also tended to desire backyards (27.1%), decks (6.8%), balconies (11.3%) and full-size laundries (14.7%) more than those within the other countries surveyed did.
American respondents reported similar desires to Australian respondents, with multiple bedrooms (47.4%), multiple bathrooms (34.6%) and air conditioning or heating (33.3%) placing as the nation’s three most desired home attributes. Interestingly, American respondents tended to value space in and around their homes the more than other nations surveyed, placing with the highest percentile in favour of front yards (6.1%), multiple bathrooms (34.6%), large bedrooms (28.5%) and multiple bedrooms (47.4%).
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 🇨🇦 Canada | 🇺🇸 USA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple bedrooms | 39.0% | 44.5% | 47.4% |
| Air conditioning / heating | 37.0% | 27.1% | 33.3% |
| Multiple bathrooms | 22.5% | 29.6% | 34.6% |
| Large bedrooms | 28.3% | 27.2% | 28.5% |
| Backyard | 24.4% | 27.1% | 25.0% |
| Storage spaces | 23.8% | 23.2% | 23.4% |
| Enclosed garage | 22.7% | 21.2% | 19.8% |
| Ensuite | 25.9% | 10.7% | 4.9% |
| Full-size laundry | 5.9% | 14.7% | 13.0% |
| Balcony | 8.3% | 11.3% | 5.6% |
| Walk-in robes | 12.7% | 6.6% | 5.4% |
| Deck | 5.0% | 6.8% | 5.8% |
| Pool | 7.1% | 5.1% | 4.2% |
| Front yard | 5.2% | 3.9% | 6.1% |
| Car port | 4.7% | 3.1% | 3.1% |
Note: Multiple answers (max. 3) could be selected, as such total exceeds 100%
We also asked people what attributes they least value in a home. Pools were the least desired across each country surveyed, with Australia in particular taking a surprisingly strong anti-pool stance, with 43.1% of Australian respondents placing them as their least desirable home asset, followed by 36.2% of Canadians and 32.3% of Americans.
Australian respondents tended to value external home attributes the least, with balconies (26.6%), car ports (25.4%) and decks (19.4%) following pools as the nation’s least desired home attributes.
Canadian respondents had different home priorities with walk-in robes (33.0%), car ports (28.4%) and ensuites (17.9%) sneaking in and placing as the country’s least desired home attributes, after pools.
American audiences reported a similar sentiment to those in Canada with car ports (30.9%), walk-in robes (28.9%), ensuites (25.0%) and storages spaces (25.0%) following pools (32.3%) as the least desirable home attributes.
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 🇨🇦 Canada | 🇺🇸 USA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pool | 43.1% | 36.2% | 32.3% |
| Car port | 25.4% | 28.4% | 30.9% |
| Walk-in robes | 19.2% | 33.0% | 28.9% |
| Balcony | 26.6% | 17.4% | 24.7% |
| Ensuite | 11.5% | 17.9% | 25.0% |
| Deck | 19.4% | 9.6% | 10.3% |
| Front yard | 14.1% | 12.3% | 9.6% |
| Full-size laundry | 14.4% | 10.3% | 9.2% |
| Multiple bathrooms | 12.8% | 10.0% | 9.9% |
| Enclosed garage | 7.0% | 12.6% | 11.8% |
| Multiple bedrooms | 9.3% | 11.2% | 10.3% |
| Storage spaces | 7.0% | 12.6% | 25.0% |
| Large bedrooms | 7.4% | 11.0% | 8.1% |
| Backyard | 7.3% | 6.9% | 6.4% |
| Air conditioning / heating | 3.9% | 6.5% | 4.5% |
Note: Multiple answers (max. 3) could be selected, as such total exceeds 100%
Compare the Market’s General Manager of Money, Stephen Zeller, notes the importance of comparing your options when looking for a home loan that suits your budget.
“Whether your dream home is a house, apartment, townhouse or duplex, it’s important to shop around,” Mr Zeller said.
“A house with a lot of desirable attributes may cost more. Therefore, it’s important for people to find out what their ‘must-haves’ are and what their budget is. It’s possible that when you’re ready to buy, the perfect dream home won’t exist – or will be very expensive.
“You might need to compromise to find a property that has most of what you want and is in your budget.
“What can help you save money is comparing home loans to find a better deal. Saving a few basis points off a percentage could potentially save you thousands over the life of the loan.“
Compare the Market commissioned PureProfile to survey 1,010 Australian, 1,009 Canadian and 1,004 American adults in February 2025.