2. Methodology
• Survey conducted with recent home buyers who
purchased a home between July 2009– June 2010
• Seller information gathered from those home
buyers who sold a home
• Mailed 111,004 questionnaires
• Received 8,449 responses
• Response rate of 7.9%
• Names obtained from Experian
5. Who is buying today?
First-time Buyer: Repeat Buyer:
30-years-old 49-years-old
$59,900 $87,000
48% married 68% married
23% single
females
17% single
females
15% single males 9% single males
12% unmarried
couples
4% unmarried
couples
8. Location, Location, Location
• Quality of the neighborhood
• Convenient to job
• Overall affordability of
homes
• Convenient to friends and
family
• Quality of the school district
• Convenient to shopping
14. Benefits Buyers Had When Using an Agent
First-time Buyers Repeat Buyers
Helped buyer understand the process 80% 53%
Pointed out unnoticed features/faults with
property 55 50
Negotiated better sales contract terms 43 40
Improved buyer's knowledge of search areas 41 43
Provided a better list of service providers 41 42
Negotiated a better price 34 34
15. Referrals Matter
• 57 percent used an agent that
was referred to them or they
had worked with before
• 87 percent would refer their
agent or work with them
again
• 64 percent only interviewed 1
agent
21. Selling Market Today
• Sellers typically
received 96% of their
asking price for the
home
• 43% of sellers did not
reduce their asking
price
• 44% offered incentives
• Homes were typically
on the market 8 weeks
26. What do sellers want from their real estate
professional?
• Help price home
competitively
• Help find a buyer for home
• Help seller market home to
potential buyers
• Help sell the home within
specific timeframe
27. Referrals Matter
• 64 percent used an agent that was
referred to them or they had
worked with before
• 84 percent would use agent again
or refer to others
• 66 percent only contacted one
agent during search process
29. First Step in Home Buying
All Buyers
First-time
Buyers
Repeat
Buyers
Looked online for properties for
sale
36% 32% 41%
Contacted a real estate agent 19 16 22
Looked online for information
about the home buying process
11 15 8
Contacted a bank or mortgage
lender
8 10 6
Drove-by
homes/neighborhoods
7 6 9
32. Value of Website Features
Very
Useful
Somewhat
Useful Not Useful
Did not
use/Not
Available
Photos 85% 14% 1% 1%
Detailed information about properties for
sale 83 16 1 1
Virtual tours 61 27 5 6
Real estate agent contact information 45 35 10 10
Interactive maps 43 35 10 12
Neighborhood information 40 43 9 8
Pending sales/contract status 33 35 16 16
Detailed information about recently sold
properties 30 39 16 15
Information about upcoming open houses 21 34 22 23
33. Websites Used by Age of Buyer
AGE OF HOME BUYER
All Buyers 18 to 2425 to 44 45 to 64 65 or older
Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Web site 59% 57% 60% 58% 55%
REALTOR.com® 45 47 46 44 42
Real estate company Web site 43 45 44 43 38
Real estate agent Web site 42 41 44 41 40
Other Web sites with real estate listings 30 38 33 26 24
For-sale-by-owner Web site 15 12 16 14 10
Homes.com 11 15 11 12 6
Newspaper Web site 8 12 9 7 8
Real estate magazine Web site 4 5 4 4 6
Social networking Web sites (e.g. Facebook,
MySpace, etc.) 2 2 2 1 1
Video hosting Web sites (e.g. YouTube, etc.) 1 1 1 1 *
34. Actions Taken from Result of Internet Search
All
Buyers
First-time
Buyers
Repeat
Buyers
Walked through home viewed online 45% 44% 47%
Found the agent used to search for or buy
home 29 30 29
Drove by or viewed home 21 22 20
36. Disconnect: Sellers’ Method to Market Home
All Homes
Listing on the Internet 91%
Yard sign 79
Open house 56
Print newspaper advertisement 28
Real estate magazine 25
Other Web sites with real estate listings 25
Direct mail (flyers, postcards, etc.) 16
Video 12
Social networking Web sites 5
Television 2
Video hosting Web sites (e.g., YouTube, etc.) 2
Other 5
37. Interact with NAR Research on
the Internet
Join our social media
network:
Facebook
Twitter
Active Rain
RealTown
38. Where to find NAR Research…and make social
media easier
• FaceBook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/NAR-Research/73888294
• Slide Share: http://www.slideshare.net/NARResearch/
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/NAR_Research
• Active rain: http://activerain.com/blogs/nar_research
• Real Town:
http://www.realtown.com/NARResearch/blog
The survey was conducted with recent home buyers who purchased a home between July 2008 and June 2009.
Seller information was gathered from those home buyers who also sold a home.
We sent out 120,038 questionnaires, and received 9,138 responses, for a response rate of 7.9 percent.
Paper survey. Names obtained from Experian.
82% of homes were previously owned
78% detached single family homes
Built in 1991
1,800 square feet
More than half of homes purchased were in the suburbs, 18% in urban areas, and 17% in small towns. One in ten were in rural areas.
Buyers typically moved 12 miles.
90 percent of home buyers used the Internet in their home search. A share that has been steadily increasing.
87 percent used real estate agents in their home search.
Buyers continue to site finding about the home they purchased from their real estate agent (36%) and the Internet (36%)
Typically a buyer viewed 12 homes during the search process. In the West buyers typically viewed 15 homes, in the Midwest and South 12 homes and Northeast the lowest amount at 10. Buyers who didn’t use the Internet typically only saw 5 homes. Those who used the Internet saw 15.
In the West 17% percent of home purchases were through a foreclosure. 9% in the South, where one in ten purchased through a builder, Midwest only 8% purchased through a foreclosure, and 4% in the Northeast.
15% of unmarried couples bought foreclosures. First time buyers were slightly more likely to purchase a foreclosed home.
66% would definitely refer their agent or work with them again an additional 22% probably would
66% of home buyers contacted only one agent during their search process
One in five contacted 2 agents.
92% of home buyers financed their home purchase
FT buyers typically finance 96 percent of their home purchase and repeat buyers typically finance 85%
The percent of buyers who financed 100 percent of their home purchase dropped from 23 percent to 15 percent of buyers. This has continued to decline in recent years.
While more than half of buyers did not need to cut spending or make any sacrifices for their home purchase
Repeat buyers make less sacrifices than first time buyers. Spending habits differ from household composition.
Cut spending on luxury items—32 percent
Cut spending on entertainment –30 percent
Cut spending on clothes—23 percent
Cancelled vacation plans—12 percent
26% reduced their price once
incentives—21 percent home warranty policies and 18 percent assistance with closing costs
50 percent also purchased an older home, while 1/3 purchased a newer home.
Age influenced the price trade as well as the square footage.
Percent change in selling price compared with purchase price
Reputation of agent
Agent is honest and trustworthy
Agent is friend or family member
Agent’s knowledge of the neighborhood
59% would definitely refer their agent or work with them again an additional 22% probably would
64% of home buyers contacted only one agent during their search process
One in five contacted 2 agents.
The survey was conducted with recent home buyers who purchased a home between July 2008 and June 2009.
Seller information was gathered from those home buyers who also sold a home.
We sent out 120,038 questionnaires, and received 9,138 responses, for a response rate of 7.9 percent.
Paper survey. Names obtained from Experian.