New HomeGain Survey Shows Average Seller Expects $227,000, Average Buyer Hopes
To Pay Only $145,000
EMERYVILLE, Calif., July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The gap between what online
home sellers hope to yield and what Internet-proficient buyers wish to pay
widened in June to $82,000, according to a new study released today by
HomeGain (http://www.homegain.com.)
In its new monthly Online Real Estate Consumer Trends Report, HomeGain
reports that in June homeowners using the Internet to sell a home expected to
yield an average sale price of $227,000, up $13,000 (6%) from May. On the
buying side, prospective home purchasers said they only wanted to pay, on
average, $145,000 for their next home, up $10,000 (7.4%) from the prior month.
The $82,000 divide between online home sellers and homebuyers grew by
$3,000 (4%) from May. It was still $12,000 smaller, however, than the gap
reported between buyers and sellers back in January.
"At the start of the year, home sellers were still basking in the glory
days of 2000," Bradley J. Inman, founder and CEO of HomeGain said. "Since
then, home sellers have started to come back down to Earth with pricing, which
in some markets is still a bit high. Buyers are willing to pay somewhat more,
which in today's market should definitely go further than it did a year ago at
this time. The market has changed and buyers are taking advantage of
softening prices and still-low interest rates to capture some very good
deals."
Additional information gleaned from homebuyers filing profiles at HomeGain
in search of a local agent in June:
-- The average online homebuyer in the U.S. hoped to pay $145,000;
-- The average buyer had a down payment of $22,000 (15.2 percent);
-- The average buyer wanted a single-family detached home (79 percent)
located in a suburb (55%);
-- The average home sought measured 1,625 square feet, and had
2.6 bedrooms and 1.7 baths;
-- 84 percent of home buyers said their purchase was not contingent on the
sale of their existing home;
-- 65 percent said they planned to select their real estate agent within
the next eight weeks;
-- 48 percent said they wanted to buy a home within a two-month period
following that;
-- 20 percent were both pre-approved and pre-qualified (higher level of
readiness) by a lender, while 52 percent had yet to apply for a loan;
-- 71 percent did not own a home, 29 percent did;
-- "No longer wish to rent" (36 percent) was the number one reason listed
for buying this home, "Corporate Relocation/New Job" (9 percent) was a distant
second;
-- 66 percent hoped for a "short commute" to work from their new home, 46%
sought "good schools" (multiple-choice category); and
-- 30 percent wanted a home less than 20 years of age.
Here's what buyers were hoping to pay and what sellers wished to yield
from a sale in the markets where buyers were willing to pay
higher-than-average prices in June (dollar amount, percentage of "gap" between
the two):
City Home buyer's Home seller's "Gap"
'desired price' price
expectation
San Francisco Bay Area $254,000 $425,000 $171,133 (67%)
Sacramento $196,000 $261,000 $65,000 (33%)
Los Angeles $180,000 $248,000 $68,000 (38%)
Orange County, CA $165,000 $308,000 $143,000 (87%)
New York City $162,000 $301,000 $139,000 (86%)
Chicago $158,000 $203,000 $45,000 (28%)
Riverside/San
Bernardino, CA $157,000 $191,000 $34,000 (22%)
San Diego $156,000 $275,000 $119,000 (76%)
Boston $156,000 $279,000 $123,000 (79%)
Seattle $133,000 $260,000 $127,000 (95%)
Among the nation's top 10 markets for online home sellers surveyed each
month by HomeGain, five registered increases in price expectation in June,
lead by Phoenix (+24%) and Portland, Ore., (+22%). Declines were relatively
minor with Boston registering the biggest dip, 5%. The average increase in
sale price expectation among the five cities on the plus side was
15.8 percent, while decliners dipped an average of only 3 percent.
Los Angeles and San Diego remained unchanged in June.
HomeGain reported that the nationwide price target of $227,000 in June was
$42,000 (23 percent) higher than what the typical existing home sold for in
the U.S. during the prior month, according to the National Association of
Realtors.
Consumers in the San Francisco Bay Area again led the nation in June with
the highest price expectation at HomeGain of $425,000, an increase of
10 percent ($37,000) over May's mark of $388,000.
The Top 10 cities for the highest price expectation in June
(increase/decrease versus May) were:
San Francisco Bay Area - $425,000 (+10%);
Orange County, Calif. - $308,000 (-2%);
New York City - $301,000 (-2%);
Boston - $279,000 (-5%);
San Diego - $275,000 (Unch.);
Sacramento - $261,000 (+10%);
Seattle - $260,000 (+13%);
Los Angeles - $248,000 (Unch.)
Portland - $218,000 (+22);
Phoenix - $217,000 (+24%)
In June, the average home seller at HomeGain expected to choose an agent
and list their property within the next 54 days, unchanged from May.
When it comes to housing bang for the buck, these cities in June
registered the lowest price per square foot (based on lower than average price
expectation and higher than average square footage per home):
-- Orlando - $66;
-- Houston - $70;
-- Atlanta - $75;
-- Austin - $77;
-- (tie) Nashville, Tampa - $82;
-- (tie) Dallas, Minneapolis - $83;
-- Baltimore - $89;
-- Las Vegas - $97.
By contrast, cities with the priciest real estate by the square foot in
June were:
-- San Francisco Bay Area - $237 per square foot;
-- Orange County - $172;
-- San Diego - $160;
-- Los Angeles - $146;
-- New York City - $137;
-- Boston - $132;
-- Sacramento - $129;
-- (tie) Portland, Seattle - $125;
-- Denver - $123.
The Online Real Estate Consumer Trends Report from HomeGain is based on
feedback provided by home sellers and homebuyers that registered at
http://www.homegain.com in June.
HomeGain is a Licensed Real Estate Broker. State license information is
available at http://homegain.com/broker .
SOURCE HomeGain
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Related links:
http://www.homegain.com
CONTACT:
Mark Marymee of HomeGain, +1-510-655-0800,
ext. 4218, or mobile, +1-510-697-2120, or markm@homegain.com
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