Every year the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) conducts a nationwide survey of recent home buyers and sellers. This annual survey seeks to provide insights about consumers’ experiences with one of the most important transaction in their lives. Today I wanted to share some of the 2013 survey highlights in order to provide a better picture of the upcoming housing market, useful insights for home buyers and sellers.
- Sixty-six percent of recent home buyers were married couples — the highest share since 2001
- For 42 percent of home buyers, the first step in the home-buying process was looking online for properties and 14 percent of home buyers first looked online for information about the home buying process
- The use of the Internet in the home search rose slightly from 2012 to 92 percent
- Forty-five percent of home buyers used a mobile or tablet website or application to search for a home
- The typical home buyer searched for 12 weeks and viewed 10 homes
- Eighty-eight percent of buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker — a share that has steadily increased from 69 percent in 2001
- Eighty-eight percent of sellers were assisted by a real estate agent when selling their home
- Two-thirds 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 dropped to a low of nine percent. Of that group, forty percent already knew the buyer prior to the home purchase.
While the approach to selling a home or buying a new home doesn’t vary greatly from year to year, it’s imperative to be well informed and prepared to tackle the challenges inherent in your efforts. The one piece of advice that I can give you also never varies from year to year: Don’t go it alone…hire a Realtor to help guide you through the process. Their advice and support will prove to be priceless.
For more information on the best approaches to buying a home or the best strategies to market your home this spring, click here to contact me or call me directly at (617) 899-3162. I’m here to help.