Real Estate marketing is the cornerstone of our business.  If you read the featured post here on Active Rain yesterday INTERESTING INFO ON WHO IS BUYING AND HOW THE MARKET HEALS ITSELF FROM THE BOTTOM UP a recent survey shed some interesting light on how the market is changing and how those changes are affecting sales which are on the rise.

LESS THAN 1%

A Nationwide survey recently revealed that less than 1% of all home buyers who purchased their homes in the past year did NOT learn about the home they purchased from a Home Book or Magazine.  If you are spending your advertising dollars in this medium you may want rethink it. You are missing 99% of successful buyers. 

In fact 90% of them, used the Internet at some point prior to purchase. They generally started their search online and then contacted an agent.   What sites were they visiting? Local MLS sites were the most popular (60%) followed by Realtor.com and Real Estate Company site (46% each) Real Estate Agent Web site were a close 4th at (45%)

   MARRIED -VS- SINGLE,  WHO ARE BUYING MORE HOMES?

Overwhelmingly 60% of the buyers were married.   21% were single women, outnumbering single men by over 2:1 (single men accounted for 10%)

   BUYER RESOURCES: CHANGE FROM POINT OF ORIGIN TO CONCLUSION

Interestingly enough how they begin the process and how a buyer will ultimately end the process by completing the transaction change from the the beginning point to the conclusion.

 87% Relied on a Real Estate Agent  

 WHERE ARE BUYERS BUYING?

54% of all homes purchased were in a Suburb or Subdivision.  

Quality of Neighborhood was the number one influencing factor in the decision to purchase among 64% of the buyers surveyed.

26% felt schools were important

    COMMUTING COSTS

Only 36% of the buyers felt commuting costs were VERY Important

Compared to 42% who felt they were only somewhat important. 

What these numbers suggest is that the quality of the neighborhood still outweighs the convenience of the commute. 78% of the respondents had purchased a single family family home. In the suburbs, giving consideration to the quality of the neighborhood or subdivision, and and smaller more economical sizes of homes than were in demand 2-3 years ago.

Knowing how to market, to whom we are marketing and the best ways of reaching potential buyers will help us to streamline where to investment marketing dollars for successful sales. 

        EFFICIENCY DID HAVE WEIGHTED INFLUENCE?

On average 1600 square feet was the size of the home most first time home buyers selected, and 2100 square feet for second time or repeat buyers. This is sharp contrast compared to previous years where buyer demand was for large homes.

88% of buyers said heating and cooling costs were important.  This couold be one reason they are trimming the square footage of the homes they are buying on a National average. 

        HOW ARE YOU INVESTING YOUR MARKETING DOLLARS?