2010 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

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

Home Buyers

Share of First-Time Buyers

Who is buying today?

First-time Buyer: Repeat Buyer:30-years-old 49-years-old$59,900 $87,00048% married 68% married23% single females

17% single females

15% single males 9% single males12% unmarried couples

4% unmarried couples

Why do buyers want to own today?

Senior Related Housing

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

Expected Tenure in Home

Years in Home

The Search Process

Usefulness of Information Sources

Length of the Search Process

Method of Home Purchase

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

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

Financing the Home Purchase

Sacrifices

• Cut spending on luxury items

• Cut spending on entertainment

• Cut spending on clothes

• Cancelled vacation plans

Housing a Good or Bad Financial Investment?

Used Tax Credit

Home Sellers

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

Why are sellers moving?

Trade up or down?

• More than half purchased a home that was more expensive

• 51% purchased a larger home

• 57% purchased a newer home

Equity Earned in Home

Method Used to Sell Home

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

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

Social Media Changing Landscape

First Step in Home Buying

All BuyersFirst-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

Frequency of Use of Different Information Sources

Usefulness of Information Sources

Value of Website Features

Very Useful

Somewhat Useful Not Useful

Did not use/Not

AvailablePhotos 85% 14% 1% 1%Detailed information about properties for sale 83 16 1 1Virtual tours 61 27 5 6Real estate agent contact information 45 35 10 10Interactive maps 43 35 10 12Neighborhood information 40 43 9 8Pending sales/contract status 33 35 16 16Detailed information about recently sold properties 30 39 16 15Information about upcoming open houses 21 34 22 23

Websites Used by Age of Buyer

AGE OF HOME BUYERAll Buyers 18 to 24 25 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 38Real estate agent Web site 42 41 44 41 40Other Web sites with real estate listings 30 38 33 26 24For-sale-by-owner Web site 15 12 16 14 10Homes.com 11 15 11 12 6Newspaper Web site 8 12 9 7 8

Real estate magazine Web site 4 5 4 4 6Social networking Web sites (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, etc.) 2 2 2 1 1Video hosting Web sites (e.g. YouTube, etc.) 1 1 1 1 *

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 29Drove by or viewed home 21 22 20

Where Buyer Found Their Home

Disconnect: Sellers’ Method to Market Home

All HomesListing on the Internet 91%Yard sign 79Open house 56Print newspaper advertisement 28Real estate magazine 25Other Web sites with real estate listings 25Direct mail (flyers, postcards, etc.) 16Video 12Social networking Web sites 5Television 2Video hosting Web sites (e.g., YouTube, etc.) 2Other 5

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2010 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers