Internet Marketing

The online consumer is very important to home sellers, averaging higher incomes than their offline peers and spending more on the homes they purchase. Below are key statistics that demonstrate the importance of this audience in marketing a home.

Where buyer first learned about home purchased

  1997 1999 2001 2003 2004 2005
Real estate agent 50% 49% 48% 41% 38% 36%
Internet 2 4 8 11 15 24
Yard sign 17 15 15 16 16 15
Friend, neighbor or relative 9 8 8 7 7 7
Home builder or their agent 3 4 3 7 7 7
Print newspaper advertisement 8 8 7 7 5 5
Knew the seller 4 3 4 4 5 3
Home book or magazine 3 3 2 1 2 1
Other * 4 3 6 5 *

2005 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers


Usefulness of information sources among those buyers that used each source

  Very Useful Somewhat Useful Not Useful
Real Estate Agent 72% 22% 6%
Internet 69 27 4
Yard Sign 49 40 11
Open House 42 45 12
Newspaper Advertisement 29 52 19
Home Builder 37 36 26
Home Book or Magazine 24 51 25
Billboard 19 32 49
Television 11 34 55
Relocation Company 16 31 53

2005 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers


Value of online features

  Very Useful Somewhat Useful Not Useful Did Not Use
Detailed Property Information 83% 15% 1% 1%
Photos 84 14 1 1
Virtual Tours 59 26 6 10
Interactive Maps 44 36 8 11
Neighborhood/Community Information 36 43 9 13
Real Estate Agent Contact 29 35 14 22

2005 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers


Actions taken as a result of internet home search

  All Buyers First-time Buyers Repeat Buyers
Drove by/viewed a home 75% 75% 74%
Walked through a home viewed online 57 56 57
Requested more information 25 27 23
Found agent used to search/buy a home 21 23 20
Contacted builder/developer 11 8 12
Pre-qualified for a mortgage online 9 11 7
Applied for a mortgage 5 6 5
Found a mortgage lender online 5 7 3

2005 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers


What homebuyers were looking for online

  All Buyers First-time Buyers Repeat Buyers
Properties for sale 95% 95% 95%
Information about an area 22 21 22
A real estate company 5 5 4
A real estate agent 4 4 4

2005 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

  • In the past few years almost 70 percent of Americans used the Internet regularly.
  • Approximately four in ten buyers now use the Internet to shop for their next home, nearly an 18-fold increase in only four years (NAR).
  • Three out of ten consumers who are accessing the Internet are in the market to buy a new property, or have been in the last six months (NPD Group for Media Metrix).
  • Nearly three out of four respondents report convenience (73 percent) and being able to do research before talking to a realtor (69 percent) as the top reasons given for searching for a new property online (NPD Group).
  • Seventy-seven percent of homebuyers consider detailed property information extremely valuable (NAR).
  • Sixty-seven percent of homebuyers believe using the Internet saves them time in their home search (NAR).
  • Buyers who use the Internet spend two weeks working with a realtor, one third the time it takes for traditional homebuyers (CAR Survey).
  • Homebuyers using the Internet are more satisfied with the home buying process than traditional homebuyers(CAR Survey).
  • Virtually all homebuyers who used the Internet in their home search found it to be valuable (NAR).
  • According to the NPD Group, 92 percent of consumers consider property photos extremely or very important.

What Consumers Are Demanding

  • In 2003, forty-three percent of home sellers demanded that their home be listed on at least two different Internet sites (2003 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers).
  • Consumers require a better understanding and more control of the home buying process which the Internet provides (CAR Survey).
  • Buyers want to view information freely without identifying themselves to agents.