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| One in Four Home Sales Driven by Interest Rate Concerns in 2004; Boomer Generation Dominates Real Estate Market, C.A.R. Report Reveals |
Use of Internet in Homeselling Process Nearly Quadrupled
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Homesellers' concerns about rising
interest rates helped drive the residential real estate market to new heights
in California in 2004, with the Boomer Generation dominating the market,
accounting for 74 percent of all home sales, according to the California
Association of REALTORS(R)' "Survey of California Sellers," released today.
"Because of its size and current life-cycle, the Boomer Generation is
likely to play a significant role in the housing market over the next several
years," said C.A.R. President Jim Hamilton. "Trading up and the purchase of
second homes will continue to put pressure on the housing market.
"While most homesellers indicated that they sold because they wanted a
larger home or different location, pricing and financing clearly entered the
picture," he said.
According to the report, a typical California homeseller was married,
47 years old, earned nearly $135,000 annually, and had sold a home at least
once before. Just over half of all sellers in 2004 fell between the ages of
45 and 54 years, while another one-third fell between 35 and 44 years of age.
Most sellers remained within their original county of residence after
selling their home, with 94 percent of sellers in Southern California
remaining within the original county, compared with 99 percent in the San
Francisco Bay Area and 88 percent in the rest of the state. Five percent of
all homesellers moved out of state in 2004.
Following the general trend in the population toward greater utilization
of the Internet, sellers also increased their use of the Web as a part of the
homeselling process. The percentage of sellers who used the Internet as a
significant part of the homeselling process nearly quadrupled from 12 percent
in 2003 to 47 percent in 2004. This development was much more dramatic than
with buyers, whose reported use of the Internet rose from 45 percent in 2003
to 56 percent in 2004.
"While use of the Internet was up, 59 percent of homesellers said that the
information they received from the Internet was less useful than the
information they received from their REALTOR(R), compared with just 7 percent
who said that the Internet provided information that was just as useful as
that provided by their REALTOR(R)," Hamilton said.
There was a shift in the mix of homes sold from 2003 to 2004, with those
selling a detached single-family home declining from 90 percent a year ago to
76 percent in 2004; those selling a condo or townhouse increased from
10 percent in 2003 to 24 percent this year.
Additional highlights of the "Survey of California Sellers" report
include:
* Twenty-nine percent of sellers said they had sold their home because
of investment or tax advantages;
* Twenty-four percent of sellers moved because of a change in family
status;
* Low interest rates were cited as important by about 40 percent of
sellers because it enabled them to either acquire a larger home or
move to a preferred neighborhood;
* Just over one-quarter of all respondents were motivated to sell
because they expected mortgage rates to increase in the future;
* Fifteen percent cited price appreciation and "cashing out" of the
market as a reason for selling;
* Eighty percent of all sellers had previously sold a home;
* Twenty percent reported that this was their first home sale;
* Sixty-one percent of all sellers were married compared with 39 percent
who were single;
* While just over two in three repeat sellers were married, only one in
three first-time sellers were married;
* Ninety-one percent reported that they used the Internet to research
comparable prices.
To order a copy of the "Survey of California Sellers" report, call
(213)739-8227 or visit http://www.rebs.com. Member costs are $24.95 for a hard copy
and $19.95 for an electronic version; non-members costs are $49.95 for a hard
copy and $39.95 for an electronic version.
The California Association of REALTORS(R) (http://www.car.org) is one of
the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with more than
155,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real
estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.
SOURCE California Association of REALTORS
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CONTACT:
Mark Giberson of California Association of
REALTORS, +1-213-739-8304, markg@car.org
