Professional Documents
Culture Documents
BUYERS
Presented by
Carmen Hirciag, MBA
Senior Research Analyst
Survey Methodology
700 telephone interviews and 567 online surveys conducted in
February April 2015
Residence Location
Other CA 32%
NorCal 14%
SoCal 54%
REO/Bank Owned
Short
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Q. Was the home you recently bought a Regular Sale, REO/Bank Owned Property, Short Sale, or another type of sale?
2015
Single family
87%
Investment
Vacation/2nd home
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
$355,000
$380,000
$350,000
$350,000
$300,000
$250,000
$200,000
$150,000
$100,000
$50,000
$0
2013
Q. What was the initial listing price of the home you purchased?
2014
2015
$350,000
$350,000
$300,000
$250,000
$200,000
$150,000
$100,000
$50,000
$0
Listing
Q. What was the price of the home you purchased?
Purchase
36%
30%
45%
4%
5%
50%
40%
28%
28%
60%
49%
20%
44%
10%
0%
2013
2014
Q. What was the initial listing price of the home you purchased?
Q. What was the price of the home you purchased?
2015
Suburban
34%
Urban
Within walking distance of
shopping/restaurants/entertainment
28%
26%
26%
15%
Rural
0%
Q. Please describe the location of the home. Select all that apply.
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
3%
90%
80%
70%
Rented
7%
Other
2%
6%
12%
40%
48%
54%
60%
Lived w/parents
38%
39%
50%
40%
30%
20%
49%
38%
50%
59%
47%
10%
0%
2011
2012
2013
Q. What was the living arrangement immediately before your recent home purchase?
2014
2015
20
15
10
5
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Q. How many weeks did you consider buying a home before contacting a real estate agent? (Asked if agent was used)
30
25
Weeks
20
15
10
5
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Q. How many weeks did you spend investigating homes and neighborhoods before contacting a real estate agent?
15%
14%
12%
Changed jobs/relocated
Desired better/other location
11%
8.4%
22%
21%
13%
13%
12%
8%
5%
Yes 85%
Q. Do you feel the home you purchased is worth the price you paid?
Agent
55%
18%
Website
For sale sign
11%
Open house
8.5%
0%
20%
40%
60%
20
20
15
10
8.8
6
5
0
2013
2014
2015
67%
71%
Flat
24%
13%
Down
3%
4%
Unsure
7%
11%
1 Year
5 Years
Q Do you think home prices in the neighborhood where you purchased will go up, down, or stay flat in one year, in five years?
Up in 5 Yrs
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Q Do you think home prices in the neighborhood where you purchased will go up in one year, in five years?
2015
Safety
Walkability
Quality of schools
Entertainment/cultural activities nearby
Short commute to work
Great restaurants nearby
Rating
8.3
6.5
6.1
5.9
5.6
5.5
Q Please rate the importance of the following in your decision to purchase a home in the neighborhood where you
purchased. (Scale 1-10, 1=not at all important, 10=extremely important)
Suburban
Pedestrian-oriented (high walkability)
21%
Cul-de-sac
21%
Gated community
21%
19%
Rural
17%
Historic
15%
12%
11%
Resort area
5.6%
Ethnic
0%
Q 21. Please select which of the following characteristics describe your ideal neighborhood. Select all that apply.
12%
13%
75%
Q Are you satisfied with the home you purchased or do you feel like you had to compromise?
27
Technology Use
Agent
10%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
Q. What was the single most useful website that you visited during your home buying process?
25%
30%
35%
realtor.com
Brokerage
Redfin
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Q. What was the single most useful website that you visited during your home buying process?
2013
2014
2015
85%
91%
85%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2013
2014
2015
28%
20%
14%
13%
10%
Research homes
Communicate
Research neighborhoods
Take photos of homes/amenities/neighborhoods
Email
Make calls
Q. How did you use your mobile device in the home buying process? N = 1269
Q. What was the most useful app that you used during the home buying process? N = 1269
realtor.com
Trulia
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
2014
Q. What was the most useful app that you used during the home buying process?
2015
21%
13%
9.4%
0.0%
Q. On which website did you find your home?
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
Zillow
Trulia
Redfin
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
2011
Q. On which website did you find your home?
2012
2013
2014
2015
80%
75%
77%
70%
60%
52%
50%
35%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2011
2012
2013
2014
Q. Did you use social media (such as Facebook, Twitter,YouTube, etc.) in your home buying process?
2015
31%
Neighborhood info
30%
Agent referrals
27%
26%
Agents' YouTube
17%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Q. How did you use social media (such as Facebook, Twitter,YouTube, etc.) in your home buying process?
Q. Which social media websites did you use during your home buying process?
YouTube
Yelp
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2014
Q. Which social media websites did you use during your home buying process?
2015
14%
Zillow
10%
Yelp
9.1%
Trulia
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
Q. On which agent rating sites did you search for your agents ratings?
10%
12%
14%
16%
14%
Zillow
10%
Yelp
8.5%
Trulia
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Financing
100%
94%
92%
96%
91%
80%
74%
77%
60%
40%
20%
0%
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Cash 23%
Financing 77%
Personal savings
Proceeds from sale of previous
residence
28%
18%
17%
Borrowed/gifted
Sale of personal assets
13%
Inheritance
12%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
2010
2011
2012
2013
Q. What was your down payment for the home purchased, in percent of the home value?
2014
2015
Unsure 3.5%
Other 1.1%
Adjustable 13%
15%
31%
Adjustable
16%
Other
7%
Unsure
8%
8%
13%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
79%
69%
84%
93%
91%
92%
83%
20%
10%
0%
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
15%
Other
13%
15 Year
15%
30 Year
14%
17%
85%
87%
85%
86%
75%
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
8.1
8.5
8.0
8.5
8.6
7.1
4.1
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Q. Please rate how easy or difficult it was to obtain financing on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being very easy and 10 being very difficult.
No 37%
Yes 63%
BUYER/AGENT RELATIONSHIP
Advertising
Internet
Other
42%
40%
35%
30%
25%
17%
20%
12%
15%
9%
10%
4%
5%
3%
3%
4%
3%
3%
10
0%
1
4
5
6
7
# of Agents Interviewed
Q. How many agents did you interview prior to selecting the agent you used in your recent home purchase?
Average
3.0
2.5
2.0
3.2
3.1
2.8
2.3
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.5
2.4
2.4
2.2
2.2
1.8
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Q. How many agents did you interview prior to selecting the agent you used in your recent home purchase?
20%
Trustworthy
10%
8%
Negotiating ability
8%
Knowledgeable/experienced
7%
Q. What was the single most important reason for selecting the agent that you used in your recent home purchase?.
49% 52%
22% 21%
12% 12%
Telephone
13% 13%
2% 2%
Text Message
In Person
Social media
Actual
Actual
60%
50%
37%
40%
30%
42%
29%
26%
20%
11% 12%
10%
16%
9.0%
10%
7%
0%
Instantly
Within 1 hr.
Within 2 hrs.
Within 4 hrs.
Within 1
business day
Q. On average, what was the actual response time of your agent to return any form of communication to you?
Q. What was the typical response time you expected from your agent to return any form of communication to you?
2014
2015
3.4
4.3
3.3
4.1
3.3
4.4
Q. Please rate your degree of satisfaction with the following aspects of your home buying experience on a scale of 1-5, where 1 is least
satisfied and 5 is most satisfied.
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Q. Please rate your degree of satisfaction with the following aspects of your home buying experience on a scale of 1-5, where 1 is least
satisfied and 5 is most satisfied.
10%
3%
30%
25%
46%
3%
15%
No
22%
13%
11%
87%
50%
2005
2006
35%
11%
67%
2004
6%
17%
4%
88%
Yes
2007
61%
64%
2008 2009
26%
33%
12%
22%
85%
72%
2010
28%
4%
11%
54%
60%
2011
2012
52%
2013
61%
2014
2015
Unsure 4%
Yes 85%
TypicalCA Household
43%
42%
40%
25%25%
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
12%
2004
2003
2002
8% 7%
19%19%
15%
Neither 78%
# of Distressed Sales
25
20
15
10
5
0
before
2008
2008
2009
2010
Year
2011
2012
2013
25%
20%
15%
12%
10%
4%
5%
0%
2013
2014
Q. Was the outstanding loan balance on your previous home higher than the sale price?
2015
Buyer Gender
Male
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Female
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
0%
46
45
40
38
35
39
39
40
41
39
39
37
36
35
35
44
36
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Q. What is your age?
64%
Hispanic
15%
Asian
9%
Black
7%
Other
5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Single 18%
married 70%
22%
4-Year
College
Grad
33%
Some
College
28%
High
School
16%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
16%
7%
$150,000-$199,999
$100,000-$149,999
19%
$75,000-$99,999
18%
$50-000-$74,999
22%
< $50,000
18%
0%
5%
10%
15%
Q. Which of the following categories best represents you total annual income from all sources?
20%
25%
SO WHAT?
Key Conclusions & Opportunities
Safety
Walkability
Quality of schools
Entertainment/cultural activities nearby
Short commute to work
Great restaurants nearby
Rating
8.3
6.5
6.1
5.9
5.6
5.5
Q Please rate the importance of the following in your decision to purchase a home in the neighborhood where you
purchased. (Scale 1-10, 1=not at all important, 10=extremely important)
Price negotiation
15%
Paperwork
12%
Determine affordability
11%
Determine comps
0%
5%
10%
Q. In which part(s) of the transaction did you need the most assistance from your agent?
15%
20%
25%
15%
14%
12%
Changed jobs/relocated
Desired better/other location
11%
8.4%
Communication
Important to buyers
in agent selection
Responsive
Trustworthy
Negotiation skills
Knowledge /
experience
Communicate better
Respond
immediately
Market skills
effectively
Communicate
according to
client preference
Q. If there was one thing you could change about the home buying experience, what would it be?
Q. What advice would you give to real estate agents to improve the process or the level of service?
WWW.CAR.ORG/MARKETDATA/VIDEOS
MONITOR MINUTE
MORE CONSUMER
RESEARCH
Youll receive:
o Webinars on key trends
o Special reports on hot topic issues
o Interactive graphics
o Big-picture reports and forecasts
http://ccre.car.org/informati
on/
QUESTIONS?
carmenh@car.org