Friday, June 27, 2014

The Growing Use of Social Media in Home Searches



Reflecting the proliferating use of social media in today’s society, more home buyers are turning to social media in the home-buying process than ever, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ (C.A.R.) “2014 Survey of California Home Buyers.”

More than three-fourths of home buyers used social media in their home search, up from 52 percent who used it in 2011.  Buyers said they primarily used social media to obtain buying tips and suggestions from friends (44 percent), neighborhood information (44 percent), and to view their agents’ Facebook pages (42 percent).

Mobile technology and the Internet continued to be important tools in the home-buying process, with 91 percent saying they used a mobile device to access the Internet during the course of their home purchase.  Buyers used their mobile devices to look for comparable home prices (78 percent), search for homes (45 percent), and take photos of neighborhoods, homes, and amenities (43 percent).   Conversely, with the increased use of social media, fewer buyers “Googled” their agent (50 percent in 2014, down from 68 percent in 2013), turning to agents’ Facebook pages instead.

In another sign of recent market competitiveness, more than nine in 10 buyers (91 percent) made one or more other offer, with an average of 3.6 offers in 2014, up from three offers in 2013.  Additionally, buyers viewed a median of 20 homes in 2014, up from 10 last year.  Given the limited supply of homes available for sale, fewer buyers were satisfied with their home purchase than last year.  Only about half of the buyers were satisfied with their purchase in 2014, down from two-thirds (66 percent) in 2013.  Nearly half (46 percent) of buyers felt they “settled” on their home purchase in 2014, up from 34 percent.

Additional findings from C.A.R.’s “2014 Survey of California Home Buyers” include:

• Buyers cited price decreases (54 percent), receiving a promotion or raise (34 percent), low interest rates (29 percent), and favorable prices/financing (17 percent) as the top reasons for purchasing a home.

• Echoing a recovering housing market over recent years, buyer optimism of home prices also continued to improve, with the vast majority of buyers (81 percent) believing that home prices will rise in five years and 60 percent believing that prices will rise in one year.  This is an improvement since 2009, when only 35 percent of buyers believed that prices would rise in five years, and only 8 percent who believed prices would rise in one year.

• Higher down payments are still the norm in this market, with buyers putting an average of 28 percent down on their purchases.  The average down payment has been higher than the traditional 20 percent since 2009.

• More than nine in 10 buyers (92 percent) obtained a fixed-rate loan, a 23 percent increase from 2009, when only 69 percent obtained a fixed-rate loan, reflecting low rates and the desire for certainty as the market gets back to basics.

• Nearly all surveyed buyers (88 percent) used a real estate agent in 2014, down slightly from 91 percent in 2013. Reflecting a growing use of the Internet, nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of those who used an agent found their agent online, compared to only 38 percent who found their agent online in 2003.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Profits Return to California Home Owners


Rising home prices have hiked more California homes into positive equity and increased the percentage of home owners making a profit from home sales, according to California Association of Realtors' data.
The association reported 88.4% of home sellers left closing tables with money in their pockets in April. This is the highest percentage of money making sales on a monthly basis since 2007, CAR added.

The April percentage was slightly higher than the 87.4% of California real estate sales that made money in March and 13 points higher than April of last year, the association said. April was the tenth straight month that saw a rising percentage of home sales make money for sellers, CAR said.

The CAR figures put the most recent spotlight on a trend that has been percolating since the beginning of 2014.An April study conducted by economists for real estate website Trulia reported seven of the 10 fastest moving real estate markets – markets where a high percentage of homes for sale find buyers within 60 days – are located in California.

The association reported a corresponding shrinking number of foreclosed property sales by financial institutions or short sales by economically distressed homeowners. Trulia attributed the speed and rising demand in many California markets to a combination of stronger local economies that helped fuel demand, and a lack of new home construction that helped keep supply tight. For example, many of the fastest moving real estate markets have been ones where the locality has added only 10 new homes per year for every 1,000 existing homes, the organization said.