PA Realtors Association Releases Its 2008 Profile Of Buyers And Sellers

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The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors released its annual statistical report entitled "2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers".  You can read all 24 pages here.  Of course, I'm going to do the analysis and bring the highlights to you...

Some interesting factoids from Pennsylvania homebuyers in 2008 were:

• Their median age was 38.  Among first-time homebuyers, the median age was 29.
• 66% of homebuyers had no kids under 18 living at home. 
• 59% of PA homebuyers were married couples.
• First-timers represented 46% of all purchases.
• 57% of first-time buyer were between 25 and 34 years old.
• 43% of homebuyers reported using social networking websites in their purchase process.
• Among buyers aged 18 to 24, 79% reported using such sites and 46% said they used them daily.

Regarding the homes they purchased:

• New homes in PA represented only 9% of total sales.
• 62% of PA homes sold were detached "single family" homes.
• The median purchase price was $195,000 compared to $204K nationally.
• Typical home size purchased was 1,760 square feet.
• Buyers typically purchased a home within 10 miles of their current residence.

Regarding their home search process:

• 89% of PA homebuyers used the internet to search for homes.
• 37% reported going to the internet first in their search.
• Interestingly, 9% of first-time homebuyers and 21% or repeat homebuyers reported their first step as contacting an agent.
• However, 90% ended up using an agent to purchase their home.
• The typical buyer searched for a PA home for 12 weeks and saw 10 homes during the process.
• 39% of buyers first found the home they bought through the internet, and 35% received the tip from a PA realtor.
• Real estate agents were viewed as "very useful" by 81% of buyers, and "somewhat useful by another 16%/
• 32% of buyers considered a foreclosed property but decided against it for varying reasons.

One humorous stat is that buyers, according to the survey, felt very satisfied with their agent to the tune of 85%, and 70% replied that they would use them again.  This doesn't seem to jive with the fact that, at most, 21% called an agent to begin the process. 

76% of Pennsylvania homebuyers felt their purchase was as good or better than an investment in stocks.  Hmm...

Tomorrow I'll tackle the sellers portion of the statistics from the PAR "2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers". 

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 For Lancaster PA homes for saleclick here. Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and an involved community member. Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal. Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured. Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs. Jeff is also a photographer - view some of his portfolio. Comments are welcome!