Home Seller and Buyer Trends of 2015

 

The National Association of Realtors recently released their annual report profiling homebuyer and seller habits of 2015. Here are some of the most interesting highlights- you can view the full report here.

 

Home Buyers

  • First-time buyers made up 32 percent of all homebuyers, down from 33 percent last year.
  • The typical buyer was 44 years old, and had a median household income of $86,100.
  • 67 percent of recent buyers were married couples, 15 percent were single females, 9 percent were single males, and 7 percent were unmarried couples.
  • At 30 percent, the primary reason for purchasing a home was the desire to own a home of their own.

The Homes

  • Buyers of new homes made up 16 percent and buyers of previously owned homes made up 84 percent.
  • There was only a median of 14 miles between the homes that recent buyers purchased and the homes that they moved from.
  • The typical home that was recently purchased was 1,900 square feet, had three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and was built in 1991.

The Search

  • 78 percent of recent buyers found their real estate agent to be a very useful information source. Online websites were seen as a very useful information source at 82 percent.
  • Buyers typically searched for 10 weeks and looked at a median of 10 homes.
  • The typical buyer who did not use the Internet during their home search spent only five weeks searching and visited five homes, compared to those who did use the Internet and searched for 10 weeks and visited 10 homes.
  • Fifty-nine percent of recent buyers were very satisfied with their recent home buying process, up from 56 percent a year ago.

Home Sellers

  • The typical home seller was 54 years old, with a median household income of $104,100.
  • For all sellers, the most commonly cited reason for selling their home was that it was too small (16 percent), followed by a job relocation (14 percent), and the desire to move closer to friends and family (13 percent).
  • Sellers typically lived in their home for nine years before selling, declining from 10 years in last year’s report.
  • Eighty-nine percent of home sellers worked with a real estate agent to sell their home.
  • For recently sold homes, the final sales price was a median 98 percent of the final listing price.

For-Sale-By-Owner

  • Only eight percent (down from nine percent) of recent home sales were FSBO sales. This is the lowest share re-corded since this report started in 1981.
  • FSBOs typically sold for less than the selling price of agent-assisted homes; FSBO homes sold at a median of $210,000 (up from $208,700 the year prior), yet lower than the median of all homes at $245,000.

Office Listings

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