Photo: Diana Parkhouse/Flickr
It looks like home hunters are increasingly dependent on the digital world when it comes to finding a property. According to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 92 percent of would-be buyers used the Internet in their search for a home.
The annual Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers report, which looks at the survey responses of 8,767 people who purchased a home in the last year, noted that number edged up from 90 percent last year and rose up from 71 per cent in 2003 (Tweet this fact).
For 42 percent of home buyers, the first step was checking online for potential properties. About 14 per cent of home buyers also took to the Internet first to get a better sense of the home buying process.
For purchasers seeking someone to help them with their big buy, 12 percent said they used online recommendations when looking for an agent (the recommendations influenced half of those buyers).
On the other side of process, the vast majority of home sellers used the web to connect with potential buyers. About 85 percent of sellers said their property was listed or advertised on the MLS website.
When it’s all said and done, whether buyers leaned heavily on the Internet or not, the typical purchaser found the quest for a new property took about 12 weeks and led to seeing about 10 homes in person.
