NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS STATS ARE OUT!

I don't know about you, but I love charts, graphs and statistics. It is an easy way to get an overall view of what is happening in the real estate industry. The new National Association of REALTORS just came out, so I thought I would share a few of the more interesting stats.

10 Years - the median number of years first-time homebuyers stay in their home,

152% - the percentage of increase in value for those homeownes who stay in their home 21 years or more

89% - the percentage of buyers who searched for a home online

48% - the percentage of buyers who found their agent through a friend, relative or neighbor...the next highest percentage were those who found their agent through a website - 10%

59% - the percentage of buyers who used the internet to search for properties, using an MLS site

2% - the percentage of buyers who used a social networking site for their real estate needs

85% - the percentage of buyers who found photos "very useful"

43% - the percentage of loans that were FHA financed...and the predominant type of loan

The real estate industry has experienced some interesting, frustrating and extreme ups and downs in the past few years. I think these stats are reflective of those changes. FHA was almost non-existent just a short 5 years ago...now it is the predominant type of loan. The percentage of buyers searching for their home online continues to increase. Despite the common thought, social networking rarely comes into play when buyers are searching for their home or agent.

The new report is 63 pages long, so these are just a few highlights. I will continue to write a few more posts