If you took part in my marketing presentations during the early part of 2009 you know I often cited the statistics presented in the 2008 "NAR Profile of Buyers & Sellers" and the "NAR Member Profile". These are two pretty interesting directories that give us a great look into the buying habits of our clients, and the changing habits of our colleagues.
Well the 2009 version of these two surveys has been released. For the first time ever, NAR offers them free to all of us as a PDF file. I have downloaded them from Realtor.org, and they are available on our Intranet site for you to review. Simply go to the Education section, then Stefanie Hahn's Library, then the Interesting Documents.
Needless to say the data in them reinforces what I have been saying all year. The percentage of consumers using the internet to search is now up to 90%, and the percentage of them going to the internet first is 49%. Those are big numbers that just can't be ignored.
84% of them said they want photos more than anything else on a site (sound familiar?) and that superfluous info is no longer of any use.
On the member profile side, no surprise that agents are getting the hang of technology more and that smartphone use is growing rapidly. Interestingly enough, the median age of the profession also went up - showing that it is not just "young kids" who are catching on with technology.
Take some time to read these surveys - and see just where you and your client base fit in. Are you keeping up with your competition, or falling behind? Are you providing what the consumer wants, or sticking with old ideas? Most importantly, are you ready for what the 2010 survey will highlight as the big moves in the industry?
Happy Reading!
1 comment:
Thank you for reminding me that the report is out....I do find it very interesting and helpful. 90% wow!!!!
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