Philadelphia Real Estate Home Buyer and Seller Report

Philadelphia Real Estate Home Buyer and Seller Report

Larry Flick, Prudential Fox & Roach, Realtors

83 Percent of Home Buyers Value Agent Services; Role of Internet Increases for Home Buyers and Sellers, According to PF & R Survey

Prudential Fox & Roach home buyer and seller profile offers insights to consumer behavior in the Greater Philadelphia Area

While the  internet plays an increasingly important role in every phase of the home selection, buying and selling process, more than 80 percent of home buyers still believe using an agent is important, according to a recent Home Buyer/Seller study released by Prudential Fox and Roach, Realtors.  The survey, which was conducted online by the Reed Group, offers a regional look at the preferences, behaviors and characteristics among 284 recent home buyers and sellers across the Greater Philadelphia region.

Home buyers report that agents and the internet are of roughly equal importance, and combined account for 80 percent of their first introduction to their new home.Internet research begins with agent selection, with 43 percent of respondents saying they use the internet to help them choose an agent.  To help buyers find the right one, 35 percent of home buyers rely on the website of the real estate broker the agent represented, 33 percent use a real estate website such as Realtor.com, and 31 percent report using a search engine such as Google.

While internet usage is a very popular tool among home buyers, 83 percent of those surveyed still believe using an agent during the home buying process is important. In the Greater Philadelphia region, the top three reasons for agent selection are company reputation (85 percent say it is very/somewhat important), referral by family and friends (75 percent) and availability of full range of home ownership services (72 percent).

Among other home buyer key findings:

• The top three real estate websites used are Realtors.com (64 percent), Zillow.com (61 percent) and Trulia.com(57 percent).
• In terms of search engine resources, Google dominates regionally at 92 percent, with Yahoo trailing at a distant second at 25 percent market share.
• The top three reasons for home search and purchase include the desire to own their own home (53 percent),affordability (39 percent), and low interest rates (37 percent).
• The least important to buyers are green/environmentally friendly community features (34 percent) and landscaping for energy conservation (28 percent).

Home Sellers and Real Estate Professionals

The internet also plays a big role in the agent selection process, with 40 percent of home sellers reporting that they used the internet as a resource for selecting an agent.  According to home sellers, previous experience in working with a real estate agent (29 percent) and referral from family and friends (25 percent) are the most frequently identified resources used to begin the process of selling a home.

Other home seller findings include:

• The most important factors in agent selection are negotiating skills (88 percent very/somewhat important), and real estate company reputation/market share (84 percent).
• Previous experience is also important. 72 percent of regional sellers surveyed used the agent they worked with previously, and 67 percent of home sellers found their agent through referral by family and friends.
• Among the 40 percent of home sellers who used the internet to help select their agent, the most popular internet resources are the website of broker represented by their agent (88 percent), a real estate website (73 percent)and an internet search engine (71 percent).

The Prudential Fox & Roach survey was conducted in October-November 2010 among 284 home buyers and sellers who had purchased a home in the Greater Philadelphia area within the last year.

For the full survey results and key findings, click here.

To search Philadelphia Real Estate listings for condos, homes and apartments click here.

Blog post compliments of CenterCityTeam’s Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Frank L. DeFazio, Esquire
Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors – Society Hill
530 Walnut Street, Suite 260
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215.521.1623  Direct
610.636.4364  Cellular
888.308.1148  Fax
[email protected]
www.CenterCityTeam.com