Profiles of Home Buyers and Sellers
Highlights from NAR’s 2014 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers:
- 33% of recent home buyers were first time buyers, which is still suppressed from the historical norm of 40% among primary residence buyers.
- For 43% of home buyers, the first step in the home-buying process was looking online for properties. 12% of home buyers first looked online for information about the home buying process (before contacting a Realtor or lender).
92% of buyers use the internet in some way in their home search process and 50% of buyers use a mobile website or application in their home search.- Real estate agents were viewed as a useful information source by 98% of buyers who used an agent while searching for a home.
- The typical home buyer searched for 10 weeks and viewed 10 homes – this is 2 weeks shorter than the previous year’s report.
- 70% of home sellers only contacted one agent before selecting the one to assist with their home sale.
- The share of home sellers who sold their home without the assistance of a real estate agent was 9% (FSBO’s). 44% knew the buyer prior to home purchase.
In summary, the internet is a key resource for today’s buyers and sellers. However, Realtors are still a useful tool to find and close a new home.
Hampton Roads Real-e-statement is written by Alyssa Godwin, a Realtor with Liz Moore and Associates. For questions regarding buying or selling contact Alyssa at 757-329-6161 or alyssagodwin@lizmoore.com. You can also find Alyssa on Facebook or on the web at www.lizmoore.com/alyssagodwin.