"We save over 4 hours a week because we don't have to print off and send out brochures as much. The website does the work for us, giving us time to concentrate on what we do best - selling properties"
The online consumer is a very desirable one for home sellers, averaging higher incomes than their offline peers, and spending more on the homes they purchase. Below are key statistics that demonstrate the importance of this audience in marketing a home.
· In the past year 66.9% of Americans used the Internet regularly and almost half of them (31% of the American population over 12) report going online every day. (AC Nielsen and THE UCLA INTERNET REPORT)
· Baby Boomers and seniors are now the fastest growing segment of the Internet population, representing 20% of online users. (Media Metrix)
· Approximately 4 in 10 buyers now use the Internet to shop for their next home, nearly an 18-fold increase in only 4 years. (NAR)
· Three out of ten consumers who are accessing the Internet are in the market to buy a new property or have been in the last six months. (NPD Group for Media Metrix)
· Nearly 3 out of 4 of respondents report convenience (73 percent) and being able to do research before talking to an estate agent(69 percent) were the top reasons given for searching for a new property online. (NPD Group)
· 77% of homebuyers consider detailed property information "extremely valuable." (NAR)
· 67% of homebuyers believe that using the Internet saves them time in their home search. (NAR)
· Buyers who use the Internet spend 2 weeks working with an estate agent, one third the time it takes for traditional homebuyers. (CAR)
· Virtually all homebuyers who used the Internet in their home search found it to be valuable. (NAR)
