2015-NAR-Profile-231x300Each year, the National Association of REALTORS releases a study of homebuyers and sellers, which is my favorite REALTOR research publication. The NAR Research Group publishes publishes excellent research  — including its superb daily Economists’ Outlook — but this one is especially chocked full of golden statistical nuggets, which is ideal for a data junkie like me.

These are the kinds of facts I love to pull from research because these data points are what help tell a story, and that’s a great way to earn the attention of a reporter who covers our industry.

Here are seven facts from this brand news report that you may or may not find surprising, but my guess is your clients would:

  1. Most home buyers have no kids at home. A full 63% of home buyers did not have a single child under the age of 18 living at home. What are we going to do with all these McMansions?
  2. Home buyers in the South are more diverse than those in the Northeast, or Midwest. Southern diversity (82% White) among home buyers significantly eclipses both the Midwest (93% White) and Northeast (90% White), and almost ties the West (81% White). We have a lot more work to do as an industry in this space.
  3. The Northeast by far had the most First-Time Buyers in the last year: As a percentage, 43% of all home buyers in the Northeast were First-Time Buyers, compared to 26% in the West, 30% in the South, and 38% in the Midwest. One would think the Midwest or the South, with lower price homes might be higher, but lower incomes clearly play a role.
  4. First-time home buyers have plummeted as a percentage of all buyers: First- time buyers only account for 32% of buyers, that’s down from 42% in 2001, a high of 50% in 2010 and was even down from last year (33%). Millennial research may provide more insight here.
  5. Only 1 percent of all buyers say “Tax Benefits” was a primary reason they purchased a home. Please don’t tell this to your Congressional leadership.
  6. Nearly one in four home buyers say they will never buy again: 23% of buyers say they are never moving, as they are in their forever home. Think how this could impact your lead nurturing strategy.
  7. Yard Signs are still cool. More than half of all homebuyers (51%) counted the Yard Sign among their most important information sources used when shopping for a home. Yard Signs ranked 5th, just head of Open Houses (48%), way ahead of Online video sites (29%) and just shy of Mobile Search Engines (54%). More striking: The Yard Sign is still the third most powerful way buyers found the homes they purchased and has been for the last 14 years straight. This study shows the Internet was first (44%), followed by Real Estate Professionals (33%). Remember that portals can’t compete with your Yard Signs.

This year’s Profile is over 130 pages long, as it is packed with information and the full report will set an NAR member back about $20. Non-members will have to fork out about $250, but that’s well worth the price as these data points will beef up your news releases, make your email Campaigns more timely and relevant, make your Blogs more interesting and help your sales folks sound really smart.

Research like this is what helps WAV Group Communications write some of the best content for our clients because the right data points can lead to a lot of news coverage.