The 2008 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers was recently released showing that first time home buyers are increasing when compared to total market share.  Not only are first time buyers more prevalent, they also plan to own homes longer than past buyers. NAR’s survey measured numerous factors including: demographics, marketing, preferences and experiences of home buyers and sellers. According to NAR chief economist, Lawrence Yun, this trend makes sense – first time buyers are more flexible as they don’t have to sell existing homes, home prices are low and interest rates are affordable. He expects the trend to grow in 2009.

Some interesting facts about first-time buyers from the study reveal:

• Their median age was 30
• Their median income was $60,600
• The average home price purchased was $165,000
• The average buyer planned to stay in the home 10 years
• The median down payment was 4%
• Commuting costs factored into the buying decision
• Environmentally friendly features were cited important by 90% of buyers

The study also revealed that consumers rely heavily on the expertise of a real estate agent to navigate the market. Qualities home buyers and sellers look for in a Realtor include: reputation, honesty, integrity and market knowledge. 81% of sellers used full-service brokerages in the last half of 2007 and first half of 2008.

Interestingly enough 34% of those surveyed first learned about the home they purchased through a Realtor and 32% via the Internet. These numbers are followed by 15% from yard signs, 7% from a friend or relative, 7% from a home builder, 3% from a print ad, 2% from the seller direct and 1% from a home book or magazine.

In the Ann Arbor real estate market our numbers stack up a little differently.  In 2008 the sources of sales income for Kathy Toth and Team were as follows:

• 33% Personal referrals
• 19.4% Internet
• 19% Past Client
• 6.9% Guarantee
• 5% IVR Call
• 4.6% Ann Arbor Home Value
• 4.2% Radio
• 3% Reputation
• 1.8% Other
• 1.7% Sign Call
• 1.3% Agent Referrals

NAR compiled data from a sample of 133,000 home buyers and sellers who purchased homes between July 07 and June 08. 10,053 usable responses were generated.

For more information about Ann Arbor Real Estate, contact Kathy Toth and Team.

FREE MLS Search – View Current Homes for Sale Search the local Ann Arbor MLS and find the homes for sale in your desired area. Stop looking through 3 different papers, get the whole Ann Arbor homes list here for FREE. Plus receive daily updates via email, for any new listings. All for FREE – no strings attached!

Find Out  the Value of Your Ann Arbor Home Get an over the net estimate of how much your Ann Arbor home is worth – FREE! We search the local MLS, along with data the public does not have access to, and find out how much your home is worth in current market conditions.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.