Report Shows More Home Buyers Take to Web for Information Than Ever Before

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The Internet has complemented, not diminished, the Realtor’s role in the home-buying transaction, official says
By Gregory J. Wilcox

Daily News, Los Angeles

RISMEDIA, March 31 ? (KRT) ? Surfing the Internet as part of the home buying process continues to grow and the point-and-click set is younger, wealthier and better educated than shoppers who employ more traditional means, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The 2005 “Internet Versus Traditional Buyers Survey” found that 62 percent of buyers made the World Wide Web an integral part of the shopping process, up from 56 percent a year ago, said the California Association of Realtors.

The survey began tracking shopping habits in 1999 and Internet use among buyers crossed the 50 percent mark for the first time last year.

“I think it really sensitizes the real estate practitioners to the fact you have a wide range of buyers who use a wide variety of tools,” Robert Kleinhenz, the association’s deputy chief economist, said of the survey.

It was based on telephone interviews with 1,000 people equally divided among Internet shoppers and traditional buyers. Internet shoppers are those who said the Web played a key role in their shopping process and traditional buyers were those who said cyberspace was not that important to them.

The Internet isn’t driving real estate agents out of business, though.

“The Internet has complemented, not diminished, the Realtor’s role in the home-buying transaction,” association president Jim Hamilton said in a statement.

Sixty-three percent of first-time buyers said the Internet played a crucial role in the transaction versus 46 percent for repeat buyers.

The survey found that 86 percent of buyers went online to find an agent while 75 percent looked for a home, then an agent.

Seventy percent of Net shoppers visited Realtor.com, making it the most popular site. And 74 percent of Internet users visited various real estate company sites.

That doesn’t surprise Jim Link, executive vice president of the Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

He recalls that five years ago, many in the industry didn’t think the Internet would be much a force in driving sales.

But the Internet has become an important tool for the industry.

“I think that the number of agents that have their own sites is growing at a tremendous rate,” he said.

NET SHOPPER PROFILE

Here are some highlights of a survey comparing Internet home shoppers with those who use traditional methods:

–Median age:

Internet, 39

Traditional buyers, 46

–Education:

Internet, 85 percent four-year degree

Traditional, 78 percent four-year degree

–Income:

Internet, $185,088 annually

Traditional, $151,190

–Shopping time:

Internet, 2.1 weeks

Traditional, 7 weeks

Source: California Association of Realtors

Copyright ? 2005, Daily News, Los Angeles

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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