Home Buyer and Seller Trends According to the National Association of Realtors

A recent NAR survey examined a variety home buyer and seller patterns, which RE/MAX Alliance Broker/Owner Greg Smith said holds some very valuable information into specific buyer and seller trends, as well as insight into how agents can adjust their communication accordingly. Understanding the importance of the information presented in this survey means being able to better provide your clients with the kind of services they are really looking for. This detailed document covers a huge range of information from the timing of purchases and selling experiences, to first steps of the home buying process and specific buyer and seller demographics, which will be great information for the savvy Realtor moving into 2014. Being able to capitalize on these kinds of trends is something every agent has the ability to do and one that we hope all RE/MAX Alliance agents will try to take advantage of.  After all, achieving excellence requires knowing who your clients are!

Below you will find some highlights from the survey which can be used to help provide a better real estate product and service on a wide scope.

• The main reason people buy a home has remained the same, which is the pure “desire to own a home of one’s own.”
• Repeat buyers buy because of other motivations like changing circumstances, the desire for a larger home and the need to relocate for employment.  
• The other most popular reasons for buying a home involve being closer to family and friends, and moving to a better area.
• The timing of the home purchase mostly deals with the “buyers’ feeling that it was just the right time to buy,” mortgage financing options currently available, and the lack of other options.
• Nearly half of sellers traded up to a larger, more substantial, or newer property.
• Recent reports indicate that sellers “typically sold their homes for 97 percent of the listing price” with 47% having “reduced the asking price at least once.”
• 63% of sellers still offered incentives as a way of attracting more buyers.
• 39% of
• sellers who used a Realtor found them through a referral and 25% used the same agent they worked with previously.
• About 66% of home sellers only contacted one agent before listing their home.
• Of the 9% of home sellers who sold their home FSBO, 40% knew the buyer prior to the sale.
• “The typical FSBO home sold for $184,000 compared to $230,000 among agent-assisted home sales.”