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October 27, 2006
Real Estate Sellers Playing
Catch Up With Home Buyers’ Online Shopping Habits, According
to The Kelsey Group
New research finds
18- to 34-year-olds, the most active real estate-buying demographic
group, turn equally to newspapers and the Internet when shopping
for property.
Princeton, NJ (October 27, 2006) --
New research by The Kelsey Group indicates a gap between the sources
to which home buyers turn to get information about real estate and
the media that advertisers use to promote property for sale. Sellers
turn first to newspapers (24%), followed by signs (19%) to advertise
real estate for sale, while buyers turn equally to newspapers (30%)
and online (30%). And the younger generation, which is the most
active real estate-buying age group (18- to 34-year-olds), turns
to online sources first.
“This lag is not uncommon,” said Neal
Polachek, Kelsey Group senior vice president, advisory services,
research and consulting. “Eyeballs move more quickly than
ad dollars, and this is just another clear example. The question
is, How fast will ad dollars catch up with the shift in eyeballs?”
Based on data from the Newspaper Association of
America and The Kelsey Group’s forecast, Kelsey analysts anticipate
US$7.75 billion will be spent on real estate classified advertising—offline
and online—in 2006. Online listings, paid search, Internet
newspaper and other online sources will drive the Internet ad share
to 34 percent as the real estate transaction is more closely linked
to financial and move-related services through consolidation.
There is no shortage of online home buyers for those
early adopters who are advertising online today. According to the
National Association of Realtors, use of the Internet to search
for a home has risen dramatically, increasing from 2 percent of
buyers in 1995 to 77 percent in 2005 (up from 74 percent in 2004).
“Clearly, the underlying buyer and seller
trends suggest we are reaching a tipping point regarding the transition
of ad dollars from offline media to online media,” said Matt
Booth, Kelsey Group senior vice president and program director,
Interactive Local Media and Marketplaces. “There’s a
tremendous opportunity for established and new players to deliver
home buyers a more compelling experience, which integrates the familiarity
of paper with the robustness of digital.”
“It’s clear that home buyers and sellers
are doing their research online—study after study shows this,
and there’s an incredible opportunity for advertisers to get
in front of this group,” said Spencer Rascoff, CFO and vice
president, marketing, Zillow.com. “For example, 86 percent
of Zillow users own a home, and more than half plan to buy or sell
in the next two years. A real estate or financial services advertiser
can’t get a more focused audience than this.”
Rascoff is a featured speaker at The Kelsey Group’s
upcoming Interactive Local Media 2006 (ILM:06) conference, Nov.
29-Dec. 1, 2006, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two other conference
sessions will examine online local media and the real estate segment:
- “Homing in on Consumer and Advertiser Trends in Real Estate,”
featuring panelists Jamie Glenn, vice president, product management,
Trulia; Prem Luthra, senior vice president, Move.com; Justin McCarthy,
manager, SPD, Google Local; and Michael Yank, Yahoo! Real Estate.
- Featured speaker: Glenn Goad, executive vice president, consumer
strategy, Network Communications, Inc. NCI is the leading publisher
of printed and online real estate information in North America.
Its publications include “The Real Estate Book” and
“Apartment Finders.”
ILM:06 is The Kelsey Group’s 11th conference
devoted to digital media with a local focus. For more information
about the conference, visit www.kelseygroup.com/ilm2006.
Additional Survey Findings and Methodology
This consumer omnibus study was conducted in June 2006 through 1,000
random telephone interviews. The study covered several topics, including
where consumers go to find information about movie listings, automobile
and real estate purchases, and where sellers go to market their
automobiles and real estate for sale. Additional findings from the
survey include:
- Among buyers who said they go online, 79% were 18 to 34 years
old. Of those respondents who’d had a real estate transaction,
51% were in the 18 to 34 age group.
- Real estate agents are used in slightly more than half of all
real estate transactions. Those home buyers who do use real estate
agents find them through personal referrals. Only a handful of
home buyers (6%) used the Yellow Pages to find an agent.
About The Kelsey Group
The Kelsey Group is the leading provider of research, data and strategic
analysis on directories, small-business advertising and online local
media. Founded in 1986, the company has built a reputation as the
premier analyst firm covering the directory publishing community
and the emerging local search marketplace, providing advisory services
(The Kelsey Report® and Interactive Local Media), publishing
(Global Yellow Pages™ and Local Media Journal™), consulting
(more than 300 individual assignments) and conferences (65 events).
For more information contact:
Eileen Pacheco
(781) 556-1026
eileen@tango-group.com |
