Friday, December 11, 2009

2009 National Association of REALTORS Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

With all of the turmoil in the residential real estate market, one of the best steps a consumer can take is to become educated. Annually, we look forward to reading the new National Association of REALTORS Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. We’ve been reading it since 1999, and the raw data is always interesting to review. Here are a few results from the 2009 survey, along with our take on the meaning of those results.


(Exhibit 1-22) Primary Reason for timing of home purchase: Only 8% said it was because of the availability of homes for sale (5th choice). Top choice was “buyer was ready to buy”. We see a lot of people wanting to go on the market in the spring and summer, often because they believe that’s when buyers are looking. The reality appears to be that buyers are more likely to look when they are ready to look, as opposed to when the inventory is highest.
Implication: If you are ready to sell you should go on the market, regardless of the time of year.

(Page 42) “Before contacting an agent, home buyers spend about two weeks gathering their own information on the homes.”
Implication: Buyers, not buyer agents, are in control of the identification of homes available for purchase.

(Exhibit 3-1) First step taken during home buying process: Only 18% contact an agent first (and only 14% for buyers under the age of 44).
Implication: Buyers, not buyer agents, are in control of the identification of homes available for purchase.

(Exhibit 3-3) Information sources used in home search: 96% of buyers under the age of 44 (and 90% of all buyers) use the Internet, more than any other source.
Implication: Buyers, not buyer agents, are in control of the identification of homes available for purchase.

(Exhibit 3-6) Usefulness of information sources for home buyers: Of the 90% buyers that use the Internet, less than 1% found that information source to be “not useful” and 77% found it “very useful”.
Implication: Internet searches are the most useful source of information for home buyers.

(Exhibit 3-6) Usefulness of information sources for home buyers: Of the 26% of buyers that use home books or magazines, 90% found it “not useful” and 3% found it “very useful”.
Implication: Less than 1% of buyers (3% of 26%) find home books and magazines to be a “very useful” source of information.

(Exhibit 3-6) Usefulness of information sources for home buyers: Of the 40% of buyers that use newspapers, 84% found it “not useful” and 2% found it “very useful”.
Implication: Less than 1% of buyers find home newspapers to be a “very useful” source of information.

(Exhibit 3-6) Usefulness of information sources for home buyers: Of the 46% of buyers that visited open houses, 66% found it “not useful” and 10% found it “very useful”.
Implication: Less than 5% of buyers find open houses to be a “very useful” source of information.

(Exhibit 3-6) Usefulness of information sources for home buyers: Of the 87% of buyers that use buyer agents, 2% found it “not useful” and 81% found it “very useful”.
Implication: About 70% of buyers find buyer agents to be a “very useful” source of information. In today’s market, most buyers choose to be represented.

(Exhibit 3-10) Where buyer found the home they purchased: 36% found the home they purchased from a real estate agent (either a listing agent or a buyer agent), down from 48% in 2001. Another 36% found the home on the Internet, up from 8% in 2001.
Implication: the Internet continues to become a more important source of information for buyers.

(Exhibit 3-13) Actions taken as a result of an Internet Home Search: 77% drove by or viewed the home, while 28% contacted either the listing agent or a buyer agent.
Implication: Buyers are doing significant research about specific homes before contacting an agent.

(Exhibit 3-19) Websites used in home searches: The top 4 types are the local MLS website, real estate brokerage websites, Realtor.com, and real estate agent websites, each used by at least 45% of buyers.
Implication: Websites populated with data that comes from the multiple listing service are vastly more popular with buyers than sites that do not have multiple listing service data.

(Exhibit 7-7) Most important factor in choosing the seller’s listing broker: Regardless of the level of service desired, the #1 factor is the reputation of the listing broker, and second is the listing broker is honest and trustworthy.
Implication: Sellers should learn what other sellers have said about the listing broker before signing a listing agreement.


More studies of real estate results are available here. Happy Reading!

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