The National Association of Realtors released their 2019 report for home buyers and seller trends in April. The report breaks down many different aspects of the home buying experience and I think it is a good read for anyone in the real estate business. You can view the report here.
Of the items in the report that I found interesting, it stated that new home sales were 14% of the market while previously owned homes made up the rest. So, the lion’s share of home sales are not going to be new homes. Across all buyers, the median house sold was a 3-bedroom, 2-bath built in 1991. I don’t doubt the accuracy of the report in the least. I believe that national averages are skewed toward older homes by sales in the north and northeast where it is common to find homes that are 50 years old or older. A quick web search shows the average age of homes in Texas to be around half that or less, about 20-25 years old.
Also according to the NAR report, of buyers that compromised in their buying decisions; price, condition and size were the three factors that buyers were most likely to give in on. As shown in the report, 90% of homes sold at 90% or more of the asking price with a third of homes selling at asking price or more. It does appear to be a seller’s market, at least for the past year.
Photo by Leon Seibert on Unsplash
The NAR report states that 44 percent of home buyers began their search online. Anyone can sit down and browse almost every home for sale in the local market with a cup of coffee and while still in their slippers. Also, 90% of buyers under 63 years old reported that the website photos of the property were the most important feature. Photographs were more important than all other features on that listing. Online videos from websites were viewed and found useful by 25% of buyers. That’s a not insignificant number of buyers willing to watch a short walk through video of a house. The walk through video will give them a slightly different perspective of the house and works with the photos to give an overall look at the property. Of buyers of all ages, 67% had a walk through of a home they saw online. Virtual tours were found very useful by almost half of all home buyers at 46%. So there is the Holy Trinity of MLS marketing ranked from 90% (photos), 46% (virtual tours) to 25% (videos).
There is much more information in the National Association of Realtors 2019 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report. I suggest everyone interested take a good look at the report. It is well put together and easy to get through and digest. Again, I’ll link the report here.
Best wishes to all and I will see you next time!