Interesting Real Estate Market Trends

Are you a typical home buyer or seller?

Do you fit the norm or are you one of those people who think “outside the box”?

Find out as we look at some interesting discoveries from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) 2017 Profile of Buyers and Sellers.

Characteristics of Home Buyers

65% of home buyers were married couples

18% were single females

8% were unmarried couples

7% were single men

• First-time buyers made up 34 percent of all home buyers.
• Thirteen percent of home buyers purchased a multigenerational home, to take care of aging parents, for cost savings, and because of children over the age of 18 moving back home.
• The typical buyer was 45 years old, and the median household income rose again to $88,800
• Eighteen percent of recent home buyers are veterans and three percent are active-duty service members.
• Senior-related housing stayed the same this year at 13 percent, with 16 percent of buyers typically purchasing condos and six percent purchasing a townhouse or row house.

Characteristics of Homes Purchased

• Buyers of new homes made up 15 percent and buyers of previously owned homes made up 85 percent.
• There was a median of only 15 miles between the homes that recent buyers purchased and the homes that they moved from.
• Detached single-family homes continue to be the most common home type for recent buyers at 83 percent, followed by seven percent of buyers choosing townhomes or row houses.
• Home prices increased slightly to a median of $235,000 among all buyers. Buyers typically purchased their homes for 98 percent of the asking price.
• The typical home that was recently purchased was 1,870 square feet, had three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and was built in 1991.
• Overall, buyers expect to live in their homes for a median of 15 years, while 18 percent say that they are never moving.

The Home Search Process

• Buyers typically searched for 10 weeks and looked at a median of 10 homes.

Home Buying and Real Estate Professionals

• Eighty-seven percent of buyers recently purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker, and seven percent purchased directly from a builder or builder’s agent.
• Forty-two percent of buyers used an agent that was referred to them by a friend, neighbor, or relative and 12 percent used an agent that they had worked with in the past to buy or sell a home.

Financing the Home Purchase

• Eighty-eight percent of recent buyers financed their home purchase. Those who financed their home purchase typically financed 90 percent.
• First-time buyers who financed their home typically financed 95 percent of their home compared to repeat buyers at 86 percent.

Home Sellers and Their Selling Experience

• The typical home seller was 55 years old, with a median household income of $103,300.
• For all sellers, the most commonly cited reason for selling their home was that it was too small (16 percent), followed by the desire to move closer to friends and family (14 percent), and a job relocation (11 percent).
• Sellers typically lived in their home for 10 years before selling, the same as the year before.
• Recently sold homes were on the market for a median of three weeks, down from four weeks from the previous year.