Every summer, Australia's digital behaviour transforms. Between November and January, Australians collectively spend 6-8% more time online than the yearly average¹ (representing an estimated 120-130 million additional browsing sessions nationwide.

45-52 million

monthly visits to property portals in January

While retail and travel dominate headlines, property browsing quietly follows the same pattern. Over the last three years, January has consistently been the highest-traffic month for property portals, with realestate.com.au and Domain receiving between 45-52 million monthly visits.

Key datapoints:

PropTrack data shows that buyer searches increase 26% from December to January, and buyer enquiries jump 44-46% month-on-month².
Cloudflare reports that national internet traffic spikes +9% on Boxing Day (Dec 26), with peak hourly volumes up 20%¹, signalling the exact moment Australians re-engage online.
Mobile dominates the experience: 63.83% of all property portal sessions now occur on smartphones³, up from 56% three years ago.

+44-46%

buyer enquiries jump month-on-month in January

Regional activity:

NSW: New listings surge +61.5% month-on-month in January and +24.9% year-on-year⁴.
VIC: Supply remains at a 15-year low, though listings still rise +15.9% YoY⁴.
QLD: Coastal traffic jumps +34% over the spring average, with demand peaking between mid-December and late January⁴.
ACT: Online enquiries climb +28% month-on-month into January⁴.

Conversion lag: Buyer activity observed in Nov-Jan leads to enquiry and sales spikes 6-8 weeks later, aligning with February-April transaction peaks⁵.

In total, this period captures Australia's largest annual property audience: buyers who are relaxed, reflective, and ready to plan their next move. For developers, it's a window where visibility multiplies impact. If your project isn't live by November, you miss the moment when attention is abundant and cost per lead is lowest.

Top 5 Insights

#	Insight	Key Data Point	Why It Matters
1	Holiday traffic runs 7% above national online averages	Total digital traffic in Australia climbs 6-8% during Nov-Jan compared to the yearly mean, with Boxing Day spikes up to +20% hourly¹.	More eyeballs and longer sessions mean greater opportunity to engage future buyers.
2	Property portal activity peaks in January	PropTrack data shows buyer enquiries in January jump 44-46% over December levels².	Projects visible before Jan are best placed to capture pent-up demand.
3	Mobile browsing dominates holiday property research	63.8% of property sessions occur on mobile³.	Optimised mobile experiences (as PRiMAX provides) capture casual, repeat browsing.
4	State markets behave differently	Sydney listings +61.5% MoM in Jan; VIC supply tightest in 15 years; QLD coastal demand peaks in Dec-Jan; ACT's digital leads climb ~28% in Jan⁴.	Timing strategies should reflect regional cycles.
5	Holiday browsers convert in Q1	Sales and listing surges in Jan-Mar directly follow Nov-Dec online engagement⁵.	Projects gathering data early are positioned for faster velocity and better pricing.

The Digital Landscape: A Nation Online

Australia is one of the world's most connected nations. With 94.9% internet penetration and 34 million mobile connections, our population doesn't just go online, we live there. Over summer, that habit intensifies.

PRiMAX translates holiday noise into market intelligence, turning casual browsing into behavioural data that tells you what people want, what they'll pay, and how close they are to buying. The season delivers the volume; PRiMAX delivers the clarity.

Cloudflare and ACCC benchmarks show Australians' internet usage increases 6-8% during the holiday period, driven by shopping, travel, and "time-rich" browsing moments¹. After Christmas, traffic rebounds almost instantly. Boxing Day alone sees +9% higher total web traffic and +20% peak-hour activity.

E-commerce and travel dominate the obvious spikes, but property quietly mirrors these patterns. In January, realestate.com.au and Domain consistently record their highest traffic of the year².

Chart 1: National Online Activity Index

Real Estate's Holiday Surge

Contrary to the myth that "everything shuts down over Christmas," the data says otherwise.

• realestate.com.au reported record "House & Land" visits in January multiple years running, nearly 400,000 sessions at peak.
• PropTrack shows January buyer enquiries are 26% higher than December and up to 8% higher than November².
• Session duration and pages per visit on property portals increase as users scroll more leisurely while off work.

State-by-State Snapshot

State	Seasonal Behaviour	Market Insight
NSW (Sydney)	Listings surge 61.5% MoM in Jan, +24.9% YoY⁴.	Developers face fierce competition from normal residential stock. Early visibility ensures you're in the buyer's line of sight before the flood.
VIC (Melbourne)	Supply pipeline at 15-year lows; listings +15.9% YoY⁴.	With stock tight, awareness built in Dec-Jan helps projects stand out and capture unmet demand.
QLD (Gold Coast, SEQ)	Unique inverse pattern: market peaks Dec-Jan⁴.	Holidaymakers become buyers. Lifestyle and coastal projects thrive when marketed through the holiday period.
ACT (Canberra)	Consistent +28% digital enquiry growth in Jan; steady local market but online-first.	Digital-first campaigns outperform physical display strategies; PRiMAX data helps quantify intent.

Chart 2: Property Market Activity by State

Why People Browse More Over the Holidays

The summer surge isn't random. It's behavioural. People have more time, headspace, and optimism.

Downtime = Discovery

Australians average 2-3 weeks off work over summer. With daily structure gone, people browse casually, often on phones from the couch, pool, or plane.

Average session duration rises 12-15% on property portals.
Mobile traffic hits 64% of total sessions³.

Reflection & Resolution

The New Year mindset triggers "fresh start" thinking: new homes, bigger spaces, better investments. A Peet Group study found "buyers return from holidays motivated", reflected in January's ~45% enquiry spike².

Family Consensus

The holidays bring decision-makers together. Conversations like "Should we move next year?" or "Maybe it's time for a coastal investment" are born between family barbecues and beach days.

Financial Readiness

Year-end bonuses, tax planning, and refreshed lending cycles mean many buyers start browsing with newfound clarity on budget.

Chart 3: Holiday Property Browsing Motivations

Conversion Lag: From Browsing to Buying

What happens online in December directly shapes what happens in salesrooms by February.

• PropTrack Housing Indicators show January listings surge +92.7% month-on-month after December⁵.
• Buyer enquiries rise 44-46%, leading to increased auction volumes by February.
• Rental market activity also spikes, with January moves 50% higher than any other month⁵, signalling overall housing momentum.

Projects visible in this period capture the "intent curve" earlier, turning curiosity into data, and data into conversion strategy.

Chart 4: Engagement vs Sales Lag

The Developer Opportunity

Developers often underestimate how seasonal visibility compounds. Missing the Nov-Jan window doesn't just cost clicks, it costs momentum.

Why Early Visibility Matters

Momentum builds credibility: Buyers equate "buzz" with trust. A project with visible traction by January feels established by launch.
Data compounds over time: Each interaction builds a behavioural dataset, who's clicking what, saving which layouts, or hesitating at what price points.
Pricing precision: Developers running through PRiMAX over this period can test digital price elasticity before a single contract is signed.

If you wait until late Q1 to go live, you're building a funnel after the biggest audience has already moved on.

How PRiMAX 10x's the Opportunity

This isn't black magic. It's maths, behavioural science, and machine learning applied to an industry still running on gut feel.

PRiMAX captures every interaction during the holiday surge: which apartments people save, which plans they linger on, which filters they use. Over a few short weeks, this data paints a statistically significant picture of buyer intent.

That intelligence becomes your edge:

Understand resonance: See which products and price points attract the most engagement.
Calibrate pricing: Run multiple pricing simulations against real buyer data.
Identify leads: Surface buyers with strong digital intent for early conversion in Q1.

Other industries have done this for years (retail, travel, streaming) using AI to understand preference before purchase. PRiMAX is bringing that same capability to property, giving developers a window into what people will buy, not just what they say they want.

When combined with the summer surge, it's a force multiplier: the fuel (holiday traffic) meets the engine (PRiMAX intelligence).

Chart 5: PRiMAX Holiday Conversion Funnel

Conclusion

The Australian summer isn't a quiet season. It's the season of intent.

Buyers are rested, reflective, and online. The ones casually browsing now are the same ones who'll sign contracts by March.

The difference between developers who capture them and those who don't comes down to visibility and intelligence. PRiMAX gives you both.

By embedding your project in the digital flow of the holidays, you don't just market smarter, you learn faster. You discover who's interested, at what price point, and what's holding them back. That's not guesswork; it's data-driven foresight.

The message is simple: don't wait until January to start marketing to January buyers. Be there before they arrive.

References

Cloudflare Radar, "Holiday Internet Traffic Patterns - Australia", 2024-2025.
PropTrack Market Reports, "Buyer Search and Enquiry Volumes", Jan 2022-2025.
InMobi Mobile Usage Study, "Mobile Shopping in Australia", 2023-2024.
LJ Hooker Australian Listings Report 2025; SQM Research "Total Property Listings July 2025."
Budget Direct / Mozo Housing Indicators, "January Moves and Market Activity", 2025.