Highlights from the NAR profile of Home buyers and Sellers 2009

(As reported in NAR profile of Homebuyers and Sellers 2009)
Characteristics of Home Buyers

• Forty-seven percent of recent home buyers were first-time buyers.
  The typical first-time home buyer was 30 years old, while the typical
  repeat buyer was 48 years old.
• The 2008 median household income of buyers was $73,100. The
  median income was $61,600 among first-time buyers and $88,100
  among repeat buyers. 
• Twenty-one percent of recent home buyers were single females, and 10percent were single males.
• For one-third of recent home buyers, the primary reason for the recent
  home purchase was a desire to own a home.

The Home Search Process

• For more than one-third of home buyers, the first step in the home-buying process was looking online for properties.
• Nine in ten home buyers and 94 used the Internet to search for homes.
• Real estate agents were viewed as a very useful information source by 81 percent of buyers who used an agent while searching for a home.
• The typical home buyer searched for 12 weeks and viewed 12 homes.

Home Buying and Real Estate Professionals

• Seventy-seven percent of buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker.
• Ten percent of buyers purchased a home in foreclosure, up from 3  percent in 2008.
• Forty-four percent of buyers found their agent through a referral from a friend or family member.