Seattle Housing Buzz

The Washington Realtor Association recently surveyed home buyers throughout the state and compiled some interesting results.

Home buyers typically purchased a home within 13 miles of their current residence, averaging 1,790 sq ft with a median price of $300,000.

• Of homes purchased, 72% were single family dwellings and 25% were new construction.
• First-time buyers accounted for 41% of all homes purchased in 2007. They had a median income of $54,700 and their median age was 31 years. Nearly half of first-time buyers were between 25 and 34 years old.
• Of all buyers, the median household income was $73,900 with a median age of 38 years.
• Demographically, 63% were married couples, 21% single females, 6% single males and 9% were unmarried couples. (Don’t know who the other 1% were, though.)
• Seventy-six percent of buyers between 18 and 24 purchased a home out of a desire to own and establish a household.

Technology-wise, 73% of buyers began their home search online while 14% of first-time buyers and 22% of repeat buyers began their search by contacting an agent.

• However, 91% of all buyers utilized the internet at some point to search for homes.
• Interestingly, 37% reported they first learned of the home they purchased through the internet while 30% said their Realtor located the property for them.
• The typical internet searcher was 38 years old and visited a median 12 homes. The typical buyer who did not utilize the internet was 49 years old and only saw a median 4 properties.

Real estate agents assisted 85% of buyers who purchased a home.

• Though, buyers tended to search for homes for two weeks before contacting an agent.
• During the home search process, 72% of buyers indicated their agent was a useful information source.
• Of qualities important in selecting an agent, 98% of buyers stated honesty and integrity were most important. When asked to rate their agent’s performance on those qualities, 87% indicated they were “very satisfied”.
• And, 68% of buyers stated they would use their agent again.

Tags: Home Buyer, Home Search, Seattle Real Estate

John L. Scott has also launched an enhancement to its interactive mapping tool on www.JohnLScott.com. Now, visitors to John L. Scott’s website can view sold home information right along side homes for sale (see below). John L. Scott originally launched comparable sold property information in 2006 which appeared on its own mapping interface, but with this latest enhancement, consumers can view all homes for sale as well as those that recently sold on one interactive map.

Sold properties will now show along side active properties; solds in red and actives in blue.

In addition to the map, a list option is available:

By default, the sold listings are included in the search results. Users can remove the sold listings by unchecking the “Show Sold Properties” box:

In fact, I would suggest unchecking the box before viewing the listings in the Gallery view otherwise the solds will be included:

Tags: Home Search, John L Scott, Sold Data

Soon home buyers will be able to view home search listings right on their computer desktop. John L. Scott Real Estate is launching a Desktop Delivery tool that’ll enable home buyers access to the most up-to-date home search results. Users who download the gadget will receive new listings that meet their home search criteria on their desktop. The tool updates every two hours and works only with Vista.

According to Lennox Scott, John L. Scott’s CEO, “Visitors can download a gadget for any (and every) saved search, enabling them to have the most current, relevant home search information right on their desktop. Scott said “It’s like having a miniature slide show of your favorite homes for sale right at your finger tips.”

In the past six months, John L Scott has seen a 14% increase in its Property Tracker home search accounts. With over 100,000 accounts, the company notes that home buyers want to receive new listings as soon as they hit the market. The desktop tool provides a simple and immediate means of delivering the information to home buyers.

John L. Scott Real Estate has been an industry technology leader introducing many innovative internet tools and features for buyers and sellers, including high-definition and bird’s eye view images, the neighborhood wizard mapping tool and sold comparable data.

Tags: Home Search, John L Scott