Brits admit to ‘roomscrolling’ – and it is not what you assume

Brits have fessed up to ‘roomscrolling’ the act of ogling property listings without any intention to buy, with over half admitting to this guilty pleasure.

A survey of 2,000 adults found that a whopping 42% are daydreaming about other people’s pads, and a staggering 69% confess to eyeballing estate agent windows for the latest homes on the market and their price tags.

A nosy 7% can’t help but check out properties every time they stroll past an estate agent, while 31% love to share snaps of swanky homes with mates and family via WhatsApp, texts, or emails, even though 56% know they can’t afford to purchase.

Graham Paterson, CEO of AI-powered search engine Jitty, which conducted the poll, said: “People love looking at other people’s properties and chatting about them with pals. We can walk past hundreds of homes each day but never know what they look like on the inside – which is why it’s so interesting to have a peek online.”

Paterson pointed out: “It’s not all about being nosey though, looking at other properties is a great source of inspiration and it’s interesting to see what other people can do with a space similar to your own – and how much they are selling for.”

The research also showed that 34% of roomscrollers are tempted by properties way out of their price range, whereas only 29% keep it real by sticking to what they can actually afford.

The primary reason for this seemingly apparent ‘roomscrolling’ is sheer curiosity; 28% of individuals crave a peek inside their neighbour’s homes. Meanwhile, some are keen to consider the type of property they might be able to afford in future (27%), while others (24%) enjoy comparing their own home with those around them.

Some nosy parkers (12%) can’t resist checking out the price tags on their friends’ homes, and a not-so-small 15% find solace in the calm of browsing.

Fascinatingly, after perusing through the market, 22% of individuals feel a sudden surge of motivation. Jo Hemmings, a Behavioural Psychologist put forth: “We have an innate desire to be curious, and from babies we are intrigued by, and learn from, our local surroundings.”

“It’s interesting to see how many people like to have a look in estate agent’s windows and compare what’s on the market to their own home.

“This triggers our social bonding hormone, oxytocin – increasing our desire to learn about our neighbours’ living spaces and style, dopamine, the pleasure and reward we get as a result of our indulging our curiosity and cortisol, which heightens our awareness of social comparison.”

“There’s an aspirational ‘what if we could afford? ‘ aspect to roomscrolling for those who often find themselves looking at properties beyond their budget.”

“This visualisation grants us positive feelings of escape and presents an inspirational impetus to improve the standard of our homes inline with current trends, borrowing ideas on decor, style and design.”

“By roomscrolling, there doesn’t seem to be a sense of ‘house envy’ or disappointment but more a form of stress relief from our everyday routines, a feeling of self-enhancement – just by imagining ourselves living in such homes – and the ease of which we can look at the curated perfection of online homes, influencing our own choices for our own homes.”