It's a good thing that the NAR has decided to do its survey of home buyers and sellers annually instead of every two years. This year's survey offers a lot of trends and surprises which should be enormously helpful to Realtors, real estate consumers, community planners and builders.

The survey questionnaire was mailed to 44,918 consumers who either bought or sold a home in early 2003, resulting in 3,023 "usable responses" at a response rate of 7.3 percent. That's a drop in usable responses from 2002 from 5,700, or a response rate of 15.7 percent.

According to Steve Cook, spokesperson for the NAR, fewer numbers simply means that the NAR can turn the survey around more quickly than every two years.

"There is no other source for most of this information," notes Cook, "so a lot is unique, and we are trying to do it annually. The internet is something that caused us to look at making more frequent surveys. Ours has been the most authoritative with the largest sample of consumers, but it used to be based on six months of transactions, and several thousand more respondents, and by the time the data compiled and released it was a number of months after the transaction and then we wouldn't do it again for two years. It was important to freshen the data. It is a big undertaking to do this study. We feel that it can be statistically accurate with that size sample to get the data out more quickly."

But what the survey lacks in volume consumers, it more than makes up for in delivering information that can be utilized by the real estate community as insights into emerging trends. While almost every category of the survey offers some revelations, here are some that were particularly noteworthy about buyers.

First-time buyers slowing down

In just one year, the survey shows that buyers are older (41 median years of age as opposed to 36 in 2002) and made $66,300 in household income - a drop of seven percent from 2001. Forty percent of buyers were first-timers, down two percent from 2002 and 1998, and down four percent from 1991.

These figures could show that despite record low interest rates, other factors may be slowing buyers down, including the local job market and rising home prices.

Buyers more nontraditional in profile

The 2003 homebuyer differs more from the traditional homebuyer profile of married couples with children than ever. Up considerably were the number of single buyers, and buyers with no children (62 percent) residing in the household.

In 1995, 70 percent of buyers were married couples, but in 2003 only 59 percent of buyers were married.

Over 37 percent of first-time homebuyers were single in 2003, up from 26 percent in 2002. Single women continued their rise to 20 percent of all buyers, up from 18 percent in 1998. Interestingly, single female buyers dipped in 2001 to 15 percent, making the rise in female buyer volume in 2003 even more noteworthy.

The homebuyer profile may have a significant impact on the type of housing that sells well.

First-time buyers, says the NAR, were less likely to buy a detached single-family home than repeat buyers, preferring townhouses, row houses or condominiums. Also, buyers of previously owned homes were more likely to purchase a condominium or a unit in a multi-family structure, suggesting that issues such as cost, security and maintenance may be factors.

Homebuyers, says the survey, were more likely to purchase newly constructed homes in 2003 than previously. Twenty-eight percent of all homes purchased in 2003 were new, compared to 21 percent in 2001.

Second-home buyers (four percent of homebuyers) were three times more likely to buy a condo or apartment for vacation or investment purposes than a single-family detached home.

A trend toward low-maintenance homes coupled with buyer preference for new homes may pressure existing home sellers to keep their homes more updated to compete with homes that offer amenities, warranties and planned neighborhoods.

"One area we did some more questioning than in the past was on second homes," says Cook, "and we have the best data to show the degree that people are buying homes for second home investment. They are buying as an investment as much as for recreational use."

Buyers use agents, Internet more often

The Internet has been trending upward as a source of information for homebuyers since 1995 when two percent of homebuyers use the Internet to shop for a home. In 2001, buyers used the Internet (41 percent) as often as newspapers (41 percent.) So, it was no surprise to see the Internet surpass newspapers for the first time ever as an information source for homebuyers. A whopping 65 percent of homebuyers used the Internet as an information source compared to 49 percent for the newspapers.

Still number one for information is the real estate agent. Eighty-six percent of homebuyers used a real estate agent in their home search up from 79 percent in 2001. Real estate agents were also ranked "very useful" by 71 percent of homebuyers, while 57 percent of homebuyers thought the Internet was very useful.

Good news for agents is that the Internet appears to be bringing consumers in touch with agents, instead of disintermediating them as experts predicted long ago. Six percent of buyers found the real estate agent they used on the Internet, but 13 percent of long distance buyers found their agent on the Internet, third behind personal referrals (36 percent) and employer/relocation (18 percent.)

"I wasn't surprised at the Internet use, and people assumed it would be up," acknowledges Cook. "Use of agents was interesting - that is a theme hat has continued in the last three years that use of agents is up, and by people who shop on the Internet. That goes against what the experts predicted - that agents would be disintermediated. It may have to do with the complexity of the transaction and the degree agents have become good at technology to market their services and to help do the transaction. Technology is making the transaction more efficient.

"For example, look at the distance people move to buy a home," he observes. "They are moving further when they buy a home, not so much cross country, but with sites like Realtor.com, they are able to monitor markets in much larger areas, because they can be on top of what is going on in a particular neighborhood."

With more consumers and agents getting comfortable with the Internet, the time is right to increase personal marketing online.

Editor's note: A link to the survey will be provided as soon as it is available from the NAR.

Published: July 16, 2003

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.