WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is the second and final part of
the text of results from a survey published by the National Association
of Realtors Friday of home buyers and sellers:

The median downpayment of all home buyers was 8 percent, ranging
from 4 percent for first-time buyers to 14 percent for repeat buyers.

The median age of home sellers was 49 and their income was $90,000.
Sellers moved a median distance of 18 miles and their home was on the
market for 8 weeks, down from 10 weeks in the 2009 survey. Half traded
up in size, 28 percent bought a comparably sized home and 21 percent
traded down.

Sixty-four percent of sellers chose their agent based on a referral
or had used the same agent in the past. Reputation was the most
important factor in choosing an agent, cited by 35 percent of
respondents, followed by trustworthiness at 23 percent. Eighty-four
percent of sellers are likely to use the same agent again or recommend
to others.

Forty-four percent of sellers offered incentives to attract buyers,
such as home warranties or assistance with closing costs. The typical
home sold for 96 percent of the listing price, compared with 95 percent
in the 2009 profile.

Home buyers thought the most important services agents offer are
helping find the right house, and negotiating sales terms and price.
Buyers also most commonly choose an agent based on a referral from a
friend, neighbor or relative, with trustworthiness and reputation being
the most important factors.

Buyers use a wide variety of resources in searching for a home: 89
percent surf the Internet, 88 percent use real estate agents, 57 percent
yard signs, 45 percent attend open houses and 36 percent look at print
or newspaper ads. Although buyers also use other resources, they
generally start the search process online and then contact an agent.

When asked where they first learned about the home purchased, 38
percent of buyers said the Internet; 37 percent of buyers from a real
estate agent; 11 percent a yard sign or open house; 6 percent from a
friend, neighbor or relative; 4 percent home builders; 2 percent a print
or newspaper ad; 2 percent directly from the seller; and less than 1
percent from a home book or magazine.

Eighty-five percent of home buyers who used the Internet to search
for a home purchased through a real estate agent, while 70 percent of
non-Internet users were more likely to purchase directly from a builder
or from an owner they already knew in a private transaction.

Local metropolitan multiple listing service websites were the most
popular Internet resource, used by 59 percent of buyers; followed by
Realtor.com, 45 percent; real estate company sites, 43 percent; real
estate agent websites, 42 percent; other websites with real estate
listings, 41 percent; and for-sale-by-owner sites, 15 percent; other
categories were smaller.

Seventy-seven percent of all buyers purchased a detached
single-family home, 9 percent a condo, 8 percent a townhouse or
rowhouse, and 6 percent some other kind of housing.

Commuting costs continue to factor strongly in buyer decisions,
with three-quarters of buyers saying transportation costs were
important.

Environmentally friendly features remain a significant factor: 88
percent of buyers said that heating and cooling costs were important, 71
percent desired energy efficient appliances, and 69 percent wanted
energy efficient lighting.

Fifty-two percent of all homes purchased were in a suburb or
subdivision, 18 percent were in an urban area, 17 percent in a small
town, 11 percent in a rural area and 1 percent in a resort or recreation
area. The median distance from the previous residence was 12 miles.

Not surprisingly, for-sale-by-owner transactions reached a record
low, accounting for 9 percent of sales in the 2010 study, down from 11
percent in 2009. The share of homes sold without professional
representation has trended down since reaching a cyclical peak of 18
percent in 1997. “In a market as challenging as today, it’s clear most
home sellers need professional assistance,” Bishop said.

As seen in previous studies, many FSBO properties were not placed
on the open market. Factoring out private sales between parties who
knew each other in advance such as family or acquaintances, the actual
number of homes sold on the open market without professional assistance
was a record low 5 percent — the rest were unrepresented sellers in
private transactions. The market share of open-market FSBOs is half of
what it was six years ago — 10 percent were sold on the open market in
2004.

The median home price for sellers who used an agent was $199,300
vs. $140,000 for a home sold directly by an owner, but there were
important differences. The median income of unassisted sellers was
$64,000, in contrast with $93,200 for agent-assisted sellers.
Unassisted sellers were much more likely to be selling a somewhat
smaller home, and they were more likely to be in a rural area.
Combined, these factors suggest a lower value for FSBO properties.

The most difficult tasks reported by unrepresented sellers are
getting the right price, preparing and fixing the home for sale,
understanding and performing paperwork, and selling within the planned
length of time.

NAR mailed an eight-page questionnaire in July 2010 to a national
sample of 111,004 home buyers and sellers who purchased their homes
between July 2009 and June 2010, according to county records. It
generated 8,449 usable responses; the adjusted response rate was 7.9
percent. All information is characteristic of the 12-month period ending
in June 2010 with the exception of income data, which are for 2009.
Because of rounding and omissions for space, percentage distributions
for some findings may not add up to 100 percent.

(2 of 2)

** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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