How Did Buyers Purchase in 2009?
From the National Association of Realtors:
The Home Search Process
n For more than one-third of home buyers, the first step in the home-buyingprocess was looking online for properties.
n Nine in ten home buyers and 94 used the Internet to search for homes.
n Real estate agents were viewed as a very useful information source by 81percent of buyers who used an agent while searching for a home.
n The typical home buyer searched for 12 weeks and viewed 12 homes.
Home Buying and Real Estate Professionals
n Seventy-seven percent of buyers purchased their home through a realestate agent or broker.
n Ten percent of buyers purchased a home in foreclosure, up from 3percent in 2008.
n Forty-four percent of buyers found their agent through a referral from afriend or family member.
Financing the Home Purchase
n Ninety-two percent of home buyers financed their recent home purchase.
n The percentage of first-time buyers who financed 100 percent of thepurchase price with a mortgage dropped to 15 percent from 23 percent
last year.
n Nearly half (47 percent) of home buyers reported they have made somesacrifices such as reducing spending on luxury items, entertainment or
clothing.
n One-fifth of first-time buyers reported their mortgage application andapproval process was somewhat more difficult than they expected, and
one-in-ten reported it was much more difficult than expected.