The latest Zillow Group Report on Consumer Buying Trends defines a buyer as “…one who purchased a home within the last year and who had a say in the decision of buying that home.”
So who are today’s buyers? According to Zillow, typical buyers are in their late 30’s – early 40’s and that +25% of the buying pool are single (23%) and partners (10%). The remaining 67% are married.
A key characteristic of today’s buyers is that 47% are first time buyers with a median age of 33 years old. Translation…6 in 10 of these first time buyers (56%) is a Millennial.
Another key characteristic is that 83% of all buyers wants a single family home.
With an average income of $87,500, the demographic composition of today’s buyers is…
Caucasian – 75%
Hispanic – 11%
African Am. – 7%
Asian – 5%
Average age – 36 years old
Repeat buyers-42 years old
Buyer preferences are
83% – single family home
20% – townhouse
13% – condominium or co-op
9% – duplex/triplex
8% – manufactured
48% of all buyers will consider a newly constructed home. What they want in those newly constructed homes are…
48% – energy efficient savings
47% – high building reviews and ratings
45% – opportunities to customize the home
44% – comparable inventory in the community
Most buyers take an average of 4.2 months to make a buying decision however, the oldest buyers are the fastest buyers and on average take 3.8 months to decide. Men are faster (4 months) than women (4.9) months but, and this is a big but, all buyers see home buying as a shared, co-shopping activity when there is a partner or spouse. (Remember too that Millennials involve their families, friends, online reviews in their decision making processes.)
Okay, agents. Sharpen your expectations, interpersonal skills, marketing techniques, etc. to make the most of buying opportunities with today’s buyers.
