The Zillow Group Report on Consumer Housing Trends: Key Takeaways

The Zillow Group® Report on Consumer Housing Trends — a comprehensive survey of U.S. home buyers, sellers, owners and renters — contains valuable information on how Americans make home-related decisions, including how they research and partner with real estate agents. These insights can help you better understand your clients, so that you can influence the conversations they’re already having about real estate and become their trusted advisor.

Here are 10 key takeaways from the report you might find interesting.

Today’s consumer is evolving

1. Still think Millennials don’t want to own homes? Not true: Half of today’s home buyers (50 percent) are under the age of 36, and 47 percent are first-time buyers.

1. It might be a seller’s market, but buyers are still being selective. The average buyer takes an average of 4.2 months to search, goes on seven home tours, and only 46 percent get the first home on which they make an offer.
2. The stereotype of Millennials as urban dwellers falls flat: 47 percent of Millennial homeowners live in the suburbs.

1. Millennials are extremely loyal: 55 percent recommend their agent to others, 26 percent leave an online review of their agent and 40 percent stay in touch with their agent.

So is the role of the agent

1. Home buyers are not replacing the expertise of a real estate agent with online resources: Those who start their home search online are actually more likely to use an agent than those who don’t (77 percent versus 59 percent).

1. If “getting reviews” is still an item languishing on your to-do list, hop on it: Nearly as many buyers find an agent online (26 percent) as they do from personal referrals (33 percent).

1. Sellers consider an average of three agents. The younger the seller, the more agents they evaluate before choosing one.
2. When choosing an agent, buyers and sellers of all generations share their top priorities: a gut sense that an agent is trustworthy, responsive to their needs and knowledgeable about their local market.

1. Taking buyers on private home tours is the number one service repeat buyers (72 percent) and first-time buyers (62 percent) want from agents, followed closely by alerting buyers to new homes on the market and pre-screening homes.

1. The number one thing sellers want from an agent is help determining the list price of their home (50 percent) with general advice about selling and contract negotiation as their second and third (35 percent each) choices.

Buyers and sellers might start their real estate journey online, but agents are still relevant. Most clients will welcome your expertise to help them make informed decisions about the biggest transaction of their lives: Buying or selling a home.

Check out the Zillow Group Report for more information on when, where and how buyers and sellers engage agents on their real estate journey.

Download the report here.