WASHINGTON, D.C. (National Association of Realtors) – The Internet has made house hunting convenient for potential buyers, but results of a recent survey indicate that hasn’t harmed business for real estate agents.
According to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) 2013 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, typical buyers began their home search online and then contacted a real estate agent.
Ninety-two percent of respondents used the Internet to search for a home. Of those, 90 percent purchased a home through a real estate agent.
Other top resources for house hunting were real estate agents (89 percent), yard signs (51 percent), open houses (45 percent), mobile apps (45 percent), and mobile search engines (42 percent).
When buyers were asked where they first learned about the home they purchased, 43 percent said the Internet; 33 percent from a real estate agent; 9 percent a yard sign or open house; 6 percent from a friend, neighbor or relative; 5 percent from home builders; 2 percent directly from the seller; 1 percent a print or newspaper ad; and less than 1 percent from other sources.
For the study, NAR mailed a 122-question survey in July to a national sample of 148,011 homebuyers and sellers who purchased their homes between July 2012 and June 2013.
