2021 NAR Home Buyer Trends
Happy Summer Snap2Close clients,

Yes, we are in a seller's market and so many homes are being sold faster than I can yell “Hook’em Horns” (yep, I am from Texas), but the question is not about how quickly it sold but rather did the agent get the maximum price for it. Did the agent provide the best digital marketing material to obtain the maximum $$ price for the seller? 

That is the point of this newsletter. To review what homebuyers are looking for in today’s real estate market according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR)

Oh, one more thing before moving forward - Homes.com just did a survey of 1500 homebuyers, which showed that 42% would seriously consider buying a home sight unseen if they had the right visual media to view it.

The pandemic has brought a revolution to digital marketing for listings.  

The pandemic significantly changed the world of property marketing in a massive way. Gone are the days of “less is more” which was popular in 2019. Today, consumers want to see properties virtually and remotely. They now want to explore homes on their time first before reaching out to agents.  

So let’s take a minute and look at the National Association of Realtors’ 2021 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends.

I use this chart as my definition of “Digital Marketing Trends for Property Marketing”. Below this chart, I will chat about how these categories are changing from year to year to year and how the pandemic has affected what homebuyers are looking for.
Professional Photos
 
Professional photos still lead the pack for homebuyer’s expectations, with only a modest increase in this year’s report as compared to the 2020’s report. However, according to some data, homes with high-quality photos receive on average a 47% higher asking price per square foot, and homes listed between $400,000 to $500,000 sell at an increased price of 18%. Those are some pretty bold numbers!

We also know that homebuyers spend 80% of their online viewing time looking at visual media and only 20% at the text details.

Floor Plans

Floor plans again are the second most important visual media that home buyers want to see. This year’s study shows that the importance of floor plans jumped by nearly 20% this year over 2020.

A Zillow survey finds nearly 80 percent of buyers say they're more likely to view a home if the listing includes a floor plan they like. 

Interactive Floor Plans

When you merge the popularity of professional photos with a floor plan then you provide your customers with the maximum value of both. As a matter of fact, Zillow reports that more than 70 percent of buyers say a dynamic floor plan would help them determine whether the home was right for them.
Virtual Tours

NAR’s study shows that the popularity of these tours has skyrocketed by more than 25% over the last year. Did you know that 60% of home buyers now want to see a 3D virtual tour?

Virtual tours are the “next big thing”. Audiences enjoy digital media forms that provide space for independent exploration. 3D tours give your clients the chance to investigate a realistic digital environment – they’ll be able to visit each room, zeroing on details like light fixtures and artisan tiles, all from their own laptops. 
Virtual tours share another marketing advantage with video – they hold attention for minutes at a time, which means that audiences are more likely to feel invested in the interaction and more likely to take the next step in their purchase journey.

According to Matterport:

  • 95% of buyers are more likely to call about homes with true 3D virtual tours
  • Homes with a Matterport True 3D Tour are sold at a 4-9% higher price
  • Decrease time on the market by up to 31%
  • Attract more qualified prospects by giving viewers the most complete representation of your property, filtering out those the home may not be right for while also attracting leads that are genuinely interested in your listing
  • 74% of agents using Matterport True 3D Tours win more listings
  • 20% of offers made without a home visit
 
Let’s not forget about Zillow’s 3D Tour. While the quality and depth do not compare to Matterport, their tours are easy to navigate, less expensive, and give you a huge boost in search rankings on their site and Trulia.com. Plus they can also be seen on Realtor.com and other sites when used as an ARMLS virtual tour link.
Videos

Not surprisingly, videos have also seen a 20% increase in popularity. Why? Because they are usually upbeat, have edited cuts that match the music and show a good overview of the look and feel of the home. They are certainly very appealing to the lookyloos.  

While many agents look for short 20 seconds to 1-minute videos, they must realize that a serious buyer is now looking for much more information. In 2021, buyers want to see the whole house and not just snippets.
Out of town buyers

While all of the information described above should be eye-opening, we should also briefly talk about the huge wave of out-of-town buyers seeking homes in our market.

We know there is a huge demand and see it in our extreme shortage of listing inventories. However, I don’t think most really know how many out-of-state home buyers are looking here.

Today, I pulled up our statistical analytics of viewers to our Interactive Floor Plans. Amazingly 60% to 80% of viewers were from out-of-state. Most of these viewers are looking at the Phoenix area because of our affordable housing market, rapid job growth, and wonderful winters.

These are the buyers who are generating many of the bidding wars we have been facing.
So I have one simple closing question for you. Are you providing the visual media homebuyers are seeking? If you do, you will have better pricing, less time on the market, and much happier clients. Plus, if you show potential clients how you prefer to market their listings then you have a significant advantage over your competitors.

I hope everyone survives our sizzling summer. Please let us know what we can do to help you.

Charlie