2010 survey of california home buyers

The copyright laws of the United States (Title 17 U.S. Code) forbid the unauthorized reproduction of this report by any means, including facsimile or computerized formats. Copyright © 2006, CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

2010 Survey of California Home Buyers

Percent of First-Time Home Buyers

Q. Was this your first home purchase?

49%

21%

46%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Internet Buyers Traditional Buyers All Buyers

Share of Distressed Sales

Q. Was the home you bought a regular market sale, an REO/ bank-owned property, a short sale, or other?

32%

50%

18%

53%

33%

14%

43%

16%

41%

Regular market sale

REO/Bank-OwnedProperty

Short sale

All Buyers First-Time Buyers Repeat Buyers

Share of Distressed Sales(All Buyers)

49%

38%

13%

43%41%

16%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Regular Market Sales REO/Bank-Owned Property Short Sales

2009 2010


Share of Distressed Sales


2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010

Regular Market Sales 49% 43% 41% 32% 54% 53%

REO/Bank-Owned Property 38% 41% 47% 50% 33% 33%

Short Sales 13% 16% 13% 18% 13% 14%


Home Buyer Tax Credit Influenced Buying Decision

Q. Was the Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit an influencing factor in your home buying decision?

59%

73%

48%

All Buyers

First-TimeBuyers

Repeat Buyers

Primary Reason For Buying Your Home


Price decreases allowed us to buy and/or move up 42% 40% 45%

Obtained favorable price/ financing 10% 7% 12%

Desired better/other location 9% 8% 10%

Job promotion, pay raise 9% 7% 12%

Change in family status 8% 6% 10%

Tired of renting 7% 14% 0%

Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit 5% 11% 0%

Investment/Tax advantages 5% 3% 6%

Changed jobs, relocation 3% 0% 5%

Take advantage of low interest rates 2% 4% 0%

Q. What was the primary reason for buying your home?

42%

10%

9%

8%

7%

5%

5%

3%

2%

37%

12%

15%

11%

10%

8%

0%

7%

0%

0%

9%

Price decreases allowed us to buy and/ormove up

Obtained favorable price/ financing

Desired better/other location

Job promotion, pay raise

Change in family status

Tired of renting

Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit

Investment/Tax advantages

Changed jobs, relocation

Take advantage of low interest rates

2010 2009


Primary Reason For Buying Your Home(All Buyers)

7%

8%

7%

6%

14%

11%

3%

0%

4%

25%

13%

13%

11%

11%

21%

0%

7%

0%

0%

40%Price decreases allowed us to buy and/ormove up





Tired of renting





2010 2009


Primary Reason For Buying Your Home(First-Time Buyers)

12%

10%

12%

10%

0%

0%

6%

5%

0%

44%

12%

17%

12%

10%

0%

0%

6%

0%

0%

45%Price decreases allowed us to buy and/ormove up





Tired of renting





2010 2009


Primary Reason For Buying Your Home(Repeat Buyers)

Became Aware of Home Purchased Through Agent

Q. Did you become aware of the home you purchased through a real estate agent?

85%

77%

91%

98%

83%

All Buyers

First-Time Buyers

Repeat Buyers

Internet Buyers

Traditional Buyers

89%

6%

5%

Internet

For Sale signs

Open house

How Home Buyers Became Aware of the Home(Home Buyers Who Found the Home on Their Own)

Direction of Home Prices in Neighborhood


1 year 5 years 10 years 1 year 5 years 10 years 1 year 5 years 10 years

Up 23% 52% 76% 25% 50% 76% 22% 54% 75%

Down 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Flat 28% 12% 2% 27% 13% 3% 29% 10% 2%

Don't Know 48% 36% 22% 48% 37% 22% 49% 35% 22%

Q. Do you think home prices in your neighborhood will go up, down, or stay flat in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?

2010




Up 8% 34% 60% 8% 34% 58% 9% 34% 61%

Down 2% 0% 0% 2% 0% 0% 2% 0% 0%

Flat 34% 18% 3% 33% 15% 3% 34% 19% 4%

Don't Know 56% 48% 37% 57% 51% 39% 55% 47% 35%


2009



Regular Market Sales REOs/Bank Owned Short Sales


Up 22% 53% 77% 25% 50% 75% 24% 55% 73%

Down 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Flat 31% 11% 2% 27% 12% 3% 23% 10% 2%

Don't Know 47% 36% 20% 48% 38% 23% 52% 34% 25%

2010



Regular Market Sales REOs/Bank Owned Short Sales


Up 1% 39% 59% 0% 38% 53% 59% 4% 87%

Down 3% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 5% 0% 0%

Flat 36% 4% 3% 31% 18% 0% 36% 68% 13%

Don't Know 60% 57% 38% 69% 44% 47% 0% 27% 0%

2009

0%

26%

43%

30%

0%0%

14%

19%

46%

20%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

24 months orless

25 - 36months

37 - 48months

49 - 60months

60+ months

2009 2010

Mean = 56.6 months; Median = 60 months

Time Planned to Stay at Current Home Before Selling It(All Buyers)

Q. How many months do you plan to stay at your current home before selling it?

Down Payment As a Percent of Home Price(2010 vs. 2009)

1%

8% 9%

33%

27%

23%

5%

0% 0%

32%34%

30%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

5% or less 6-10% 11-15% 16-20% 21-25% 26% ormore

2009 2010

2009 Mean = 25.1%2010 Mean = 30.9%

Q. How much did you put down as your down payment for the home purchased (in percent of the home value)?

2009 2010

All Buyers 25% 31%

First-Time Buyers 20% 23%

Repeat Buyers 28% 37%

Internet Buyers 25% 31%

Traditional Buyers 27% 33%

Down Payment As a Percent of Home Price

Q. How much did you put down as your down payment for the home purchased?

Financing Options

Q. Did you finance your home purchase through:1) A fixed-rate mortgage2) An Adjustable-rate mortgage3) Relative4) No financing

82%

18%

0%

76%

13%

11%

15%

6%

79%A fixed-rate mortgage

An adjustable-ratemortgage

No financing


Financing Options

77%

16%

7%

80%

15%

4%

80%

13%

7%

Fixed-Rate Mortgage

Adjustable-RateMortgage

No financing

Regular Market Sale REO Short Sale

Q. Did you finance your home purchase through:1) A fixed-rate mortgage2) An Adjustable-rate mortgage3) Relative4) No financing

Buyers Who Know the Terms of Their Loan

91%

88%

91%

90%

89%

90%

12%

9%

10%

11%

10%

9%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Short Sale

REO

Regular MarketSales

Repeat Buyers

First-Time Buyers

All Buyers

Yes No

Q. Do you know the term of your loan?

0% 0% 0%3%

6% 7%5%

12%

37%

30%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2009 2010

2009: Mean = 8.1 Median = 9

2010: Mean = 8.5, Median = 9

Scale: “1” = very easy, “10” = very difficult

Level of Difficulty to Obtain Financing(All Buyers)

Q. Please rate how easy of difficult it was to obtain financing on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being very easy and 10 being very difficult.

Level of Difficulty to Obtain Financing

8.5

8.4

8.5

8.3

8.5

8.4

8.6

8.5

All Buyers

First-Time Buyers

Repeat Buyers

Internet Buyers

Traditional Buyers

Regular Market Sales

REOs/Bank Own Sales

Short Sales

Mean

Q. Please rate how easy of difficult it was to obtain financing on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being very easy and 10 being very difficult.

87%

13%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Internet Buyers Traditional Buyers

Internet Buyers vs. Traditional Buyers

Percentage of All Home Buyers Surveyed

Q. Did you use the Internet as an important part of your home-buying and selection process?

Home Buyers Who Looked at Newspaper/Magazine Ads to Search for a Home

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

All buyers 20% 12% 13% 13% 8%

First-time buyers 14% 12% 10% 10% 7%

Repeat buyers 21% 12% 14% 14% 9%

Internet buyers 15% 13% 10% 10% 6%

Traditional buyers 35% 11% 24% 24% 21%

Q. Did you look at newspaper/magazine ads to search for a home?

Top Internet Sites Visited

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Realtor.com 82% 80% 87% 89% 90%Real estate brokerage, company Web sites 74% 40% 62% 81% 79%

Individual real estate agent's Web site 56% 80% 82% 66% 64%

Zillow 0% 54% 36% 55% 60%

Yahoo! Real Estate 15% 22% 32% 53% 51%

Craigslist 0% 24% 34% 49% 47%

Q. What Internet Sites did you visit as part of your home buying process?

Internet Sites Visited as Part of Home Buying Process


90%79%

60%51%

47%28%

19%15%

13%11%

8%4%3%2%1%

64%

Realtor.com

Real estate brokerage, company web sites

Individual real estate agent's web site

Zillow

Yahoo! Real Estate

Craigslist

Homes.com

Realtor association web sites

Move.com

Trulia

Internet listing of a home that I was interested in

ca.realtor.com

MSN Real Estate

HouseValues.com

Nexplore.com

Redfin

All Buyers

Internet Sites Visited as Part of Home Buying Process


92%

77%

63%

49%

44%

25%

19%

14%

11%

12%

8%

5%

3%

2%

1%

80%

62%

56%

54%

50%

31%

18%

16%

14%

11%

8%

4%

3%

2%

2%

65%

89%Realtor.com

Real estate brokerage, company web sites

Individual real estate agent's web site

Zillow

Yahoo! Real Estate

Craigslist

Homes.com

Realtor association web sites

Move.com

Trulia

Internet listing of a home that I was interested in

ca.realtor.com

MSN Real Estate

HouseValues.com

Nexplore.com

Redfin

First-Time Buyers Repeat Buyers

First “Web Site” Visited During the Home Buying Process

Q. What was the first Web site that you visited during your home buying process?

59%

16%

8%

5%

0%

0%

20%

35%

4%

8%

0%

29%

4%

13%

Realtor.com

Google

Zillow

Yahoo! Real Estate

Craigslist

Unsure

Internet listing of a home

2010 2007

First “Real Estate” Web Site Visited During the Home Buying Process

Q. What was the first “real estate “ Web site that you visited during your home buying process?

66%

16%

5%

0%

0%

63%

17%

9%

4%

2%

5%

13%

Realtor.com

Zillow

Yahoo! Real Estate

Craigslist

Homes.com

Google

2010 2009

Most Useful Web Site Visited During the Home Buying Process

2007 2008 2009 2010

Realtor.com 22% 23% 37% 43%Real estate brokerage, company Web sites 12% 8% 23% 17%

Individual real estate agent's Web site 31% 33% 20% 16%

Zillow 12% 11% 19% 24%

Q. What was the most useful Web site that you visited during your home buying process?

Activities the Internet Was Used for As Part of Home Buying Process

Q. For which of the following did you use the Internet as part of your home buying process?

74%

70%

51%

45%

39%

72%

67%

61%

52%

46%

40%

63%

Preview homes so that you can narrow yoursearch (via pictures, virtual tours, maps)

Find a specific real estate agent

Identify specific homes you wanted your realestate agent to show you

Find a real estate firm

Get information on home financing and downpayments

Learn about specific neighborhoods you mightwant to move to

2010 2009

Activities the Internet Was Used for As Part of Home Buying Process

Q. For which of the following did you use the Internet as part of your home buying process?

72%

70%

48%

47%

40%

76%

70%

60%

53%

44%

38%

65%

Preview homes so that you can narrow yoursearch (via pictures, virtual tours, maps)

Find a specific real estate agent

Identify specific homes you wanted your realestate agent to show you

Find a real estate firm

Get information on home financing and downpayments

Learn about specific neighborhoods you mightwant to move to

First-Time buyers Repeat Buyers

Importance of Online Features for Home Buyers in the Home Viewing Process

(Percent “Very Important” or “Extremely Important”)

12%

28%

27%

52%

42%

17%

38%

24%

33%

54%

18%

61%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Multiple Pictures/Slide Show

Virtual Tours

Statistics on comparable homesales/listings

Neighborhood Profile

Automatic notification of new listingsavailable

Map/Directions

Very Important Extremely Important

Q. Please rate the online features by the level of importance they were to you in your home viewing process.

How Did You Find Your Real Estate Agent?Unaided Multiple Responses

76%

11%

9%

4%

12%

10%

16%

5%

0%

57%Internet

"For Sale" signs in neighborhood

Agent's farming materials

Previous transaction with real estateagent

Referral from friends, relatives, neighbors,or other contacts


Most Important Reason for Selecting AgentAmong Those Who Interviewed More Than One Real Estate Agent

35%

19%

15%

8%

7%

4%

2%

21%

21%

0%

7%

4%

23%

4%

9%

22%Seemed like he/she would be the most

responsiveSeemed like he/she would be the most

aggressive on my behalfSeemed able to negotiate the best possible

purchase price in this type of market

Had used agent one or more times before

Most knowledgeable

Most qualified

Understood how to purchase foreclosures, shortsales, distressed sales

First agent to respond to my inquiry/quickestresponse time

2010 2009Multiple Unaided Responses

Q. What was the single most important reason for selecting the agent that you used in your recent home purchase?

Most Important Reason for Selecting AgentAmong Those Who Interviewed More Than One Real Estate Agent

39%

18%

17%

10%

5%

7%

4%

20%

13%

16%

7%

9%

2%

0%

0%

33%Seemed like he/she would be the most

responsiveSeemed like he/she would be the most

aggressive on my behalfSeemed able to negotiate the best possible

purchase price in this type of market

Had used agent one or more times before

Most knowledgeable

Most qualified

Understood how to purchase foreclosures, shortsales, distressed sales

First agent to respond to my inquiry/quickestresponse time


Multiple Unaided Responses

Q. What was the single most important reason for selecting the agent that you used in your recent home purchase?

Importance of Agent’s Response Time in the Selection Process

Q. How important was the agent’s response time in the decision on your final selection?

69%

23%

8%

0%

0%

65%

19%

12%

3%

0%

ExtremelyImportant

Very Important

ModeratelyImportant

Not VeryImportant

Not At AllImportant

2010 2009

Importance of Agent’s Response Time in the Selection Process

Q. How important was the agent’s response time in the decision on your final selection?

70%

23%

7%

0%

0%

68%

23%

9%

0%

0%

ExtremelyImportant

Very Important

ModeratelyImportant

Not VeryImportant

Not At AllImportant


Percent of Home Buyers Who “Google” Agent Before Final Selection

Q. Did you “Google” your agent to find out information about him/her before the final selection?

24%

23%

26%

8%

24%All Buyers

First-TimeBuyers

Repeat Buyers

Internet Buyers

TraditionalBuyers

Time Spent Before and After Contacting Agent

8.6

6.8

10.5

6.6

10.3

8.4

How many weeks did you considerbuying a home before contacting a

real estate agent?

How many weeks did you spendinvestigating homes and

neighborhoods before contacting areal estate agent?

About how many weeks did youspend looking for a home with your

real estate agent?

2010 2009

Weeks Considered Buying a Home Before Contacting Agent

Q. How many weeks did you consider buying a home before contacting a real estate agent?

9.3

4.0

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010


Weeks Spent Investigating Before Contacting Agent

Q. How many weeks did you spend investigating homes and neighborhoods before contacting a real estate agent?

7.1

4.7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010


Weeks Spent Looking for Home With Agent

Q. Once you found your agent, about how many weeks did you spend looking for a home with your real estate agent?

10.3

11.7

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010


Number of Homes Previewed with Agent

Q. About how many different homes did you preview and visit with him or her prior to your purchase?

14.6

25.4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010



9.3

7.1

10.3

4.7

11.7

4.0


real estate agent?




real estate agent?



8.9

7.0

10.3

6.5

10.7

8.4


real estate agent?




real estate agent?


Agent’s Online Presence

89%

86%

21%

13%

76%

9%

82%

6%

Use electronic or online forms in thetransaction?

Update you on your home closing by e-mail?

Blog on the Internet

Use social networking sites such as "MySpace", "Facebook", "Linkedin", or"Twitter", to communicate with you?

Have a Web page on a socialnetworking site or sites

2010 2009

Q. Did your real estate agent::1) Update you on your home closing by email?2) Use electronic or online forms in the transaction?3) “Blog” on the Internet?4) Use social networking sites such as "My Space", "Facebook",

"Linkedin", or "Twitter", to communicate with you?

How Often Agent Communicates with Buyer(Every “X” Number of Days)

Q. About how often did you receive communications from your real estate agent?

4.4

6.0

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Internet buyers Traditional buyers

39%

31%

38%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010


Q. What was the typical response time you expected from your agent to return any form of communication with you?

Expected Response Time (Buyers Who Expected a Response Instantly)

Expected Response Time (Buyers Who Expected a Response Within 1 Hour or Less)

74%

61%

72%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010



Actual Response Time (Agents Who Respond Within 1 Hour or Less)

35%

16%

32%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010



32%

72%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Agents Who Responded Within 1 Hour

Buyers Who Expected Their Agent to Respond Within 1 Hour

Agents Need to Work Harder to Meet Buyers’ Expectation on Response Time

Q. What was the typical response time you expected from your agent to return any form of communication with you?Q. On average, what was the actual time it required for your agent to return any form of communication with you?

Overall Satisfaction with Agent Used(Percent Most Satisfied)

14% 11%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010


Q. Please rate the degree of satisfaction with the following aspects of your home buying experience: Overall satisfaction with your real estate agent.

Satisfaction with Overall Process of Finding a Home(Percent Most Satisfied)

17%15%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010


Q. Please rate your degree of satisfaction with the following aspect of your home buying experience: Overall process of finding a home

Satisfaction with Home Buying Process(All Buyers)

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010Overall process of finding home 4.5 4.3 4.2 3.3 3.2 3.3Overall satisfaction with agent 4.6 4.2 4.1 3.3 3.3 3.4Value received for amount paid 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.4 3.4 3.5Information on neighborhood 4.5 4.5 4.4 3.5 3.6 NAInformation on housing market conditions that your agent provided NA NA 3.7 3.1 2.9 3.1Understanding home buying process 4.4 4.5 4.4 4.2 3.9 3.7Agent's negotiating skills 4.4 4.2 4.1 3.3 3.2 3.3Agent's aid in finding home 4.4 4.2 4.2 3.3 3.2 3.3How well agent kept client informed 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.2 3.2 3.3

Mean Score On A 5-point Scale

5 Is “Most Satisfied” And 1 Is “Most Dissatisfied”

Q. Please rate your degree of satisfaction with the aspects of your home buying experience (aspects shown in the table above).

Value Received for What You PaidYour Real Estate Agent

(Percent Most Satisfied)

Q. Please rate the degree of satisfaction with the following aspects of your home buying experience: Value received for what you paid your real estate agent

16%

14%15%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010


Reasons for Satisfaction with the Real Estate Agent You Used

Q. Why do you have that level of satisfaction with your agent?

69%

56%

55%

45%

17%

73%

61%

57%

55%

22%

74%

46%

Always quick to respond

Negotiated good deal on my behalf

Worked hard on my behalf

Helped find the best home for me

Listened to what we needed

Kept me up to date on transaction

2010 2009

Reasons for Satisfaction with the Real Estate Agent You Used


68%

57%

56%

45%

14%

74%

69%

55%

55%

19%

74%

44%

Always quick to respond

Negotiated good deal on my behalf

Worked hard on my behalf

Helped find the best home for me

Listened to what we needed

Kept me up to date on transaction


Reasons for Dissatisfaction with the Real Estate Agent You Used

78%

22%

13%

9%

3%

82%

18%

12%

6%

3%

Real estate agent did not negotiateaggressively on my behalf

Agent was slow to respond

Did not communicate effectively orefficiently during the transaction

Wasted my time with homes I'm notlikely to buy/want

Needed to keep me better informed onhow the transaction is proceeding

2010 2009


Reasons for Dissatisfaction with the Real Estate Agent You Used


19%

16%

3%

3%

76%

24%

12%

12%

81%

3%

Real estate agent did not negotiateaggressively on my behalf

Agent was slow to respond

Did not communicate effectively orefficiently during the transaction

Wasted my time with homes I'm notlikely to buy/want

Needed to keep me better informed onhow the transaction is proceeding


Home BuyersExpected vs. Actual Response Time

2007 2008 2009 2010Actual faster than expected 15% 14% 13% 13%Actual equals expected 44% 35% 32% 31%Actual slower than expected 42% 51% 56% 57%

Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding

Advice to Give to Real Estate Agents to Improve Their Service

Q. What advice would you give to real estate agents to improve the process or the level of service?

All Buyers

First-Time Buyers

Repeat Buyers

Show how you can negotiate aggressively for the buyer 56% 56% 56%Improve the speed of communications 31% 29% 33%Provide references for lenders who will recommend the best product for me 29% 29% 28%

Provide references for lenders who will perform 27% 27% 28%Have more expertise about how to deal with banks on bank owed properties, short sales, and/or distressed sales

22% 25% 20%

Provide quality information on where the market is going and why 17% 17% 18%Find out about listings before I do 11% 11% 11%Provide more support, assistance in getting a mortgage 11% 10% 11%Improve the quality of communications 11% 11% 10%Listen to my needs better 10% 10% 10%Pre-qualify homes before showing them 9% 10% 8%Provide “buyer” references 8% 7% 8%Provide information on where interest rates are going 6% 6% 7%Have more expertise about how to handle purchase of foreclosures 6% 9% 3%Provide information on where interest rates are going 6% 6% 7%Have more expertise about how to handle purchase of foreclosures 6% 9% 3%

Advice to Give to Real Estate Agents to Improve Their Service

Q. What advice would you give to real estate agents to improve the process or the level of service?

Regular Market Sale

REO/Bank-Owned

PropertyShort Sale

Show how you can negotiate aggressively for the buyer 55% 52% 69%Improve the speed of communications 34% 33% 19%Provide references for lenders who will recommend the best product for me

28% 30% 26%

Provide references for lenders who will perform 33% 31% 0%Have more expertise about how to deal with banks on bank owed properties, short sales, and/or distressed sales

13% 14% 69%

Provide quality information on where the market is going and why 17% 17% 20%Find out about listings before I do 11% 12% 10%Provide more support, assistance in getting a mortgage 13% 13% 0%Improve the quality of communications 10% 15% 2%Listen to my needs better 10% 9% 12%Pre-qualify homes before showing them 7% 10% 15%Provide “buyer” references 8% 9% 5%Provide information on where interest rates are going 6% 7% 5%Have more expertise about how to handle purchase of foreclosures 0% 11% 8%

Areas Needed the Most Help from Agent

44%

24%

22%

10%

0%

36%

24%

21%

18%

2%

Price negotiation

Determine what comparable homes were sellingfor

Find the right home to purchase

Negotiating the purchase of foreclosed property,short sales, dealing with banks

Negotiate the terms of sale

2010 2009

Q. In what one area did you need the most help from your agent?


54%

24%

22%

0%

0%

36%

24%

22%

18%

1%

35%

25%

20%

20%

0%

Price negotiation




Negotiate the terms of sale

Regular Market Sale REO/Bank-Owned Property Short Sale

Q. In what areas did you need the most help from your agent?


Q. In what one area did you need the most help from your agent?

42%

25%

22%

10%

0%

45%

23%

22%

10%

0%

Price negotiation




Negotiate the term of sale


If You Were to Use a Real Estate Agent, Would You Use the Same Agent?

72%

11%

17%

64%

13%

22%

Yes

No

Unsure

2010 2009


78%

36%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010


(Percent Said “Yes”)


75%

10%

15%

70%

12%

18%

Yes

No

Unsure


The Role of Market Conditions in the Decision to Purchase a Home

Q. What role did market conditions play in your decision to buy your home?

50%

41%

38%

17%

5%

19%

39%

68%

23%

1%

Price decreases motivated us

Price decreases improved affordability

Low interest rates improved affordability

Low interest rates helped us move to a betterlocation, neighborhood

Likelihood that interest rates will move up motivatedus

2010 2009

All Buyers



14%

5%

39%

19%

51%

37%

44%

49%

4%

38%









16%

4%

38%

16%

43%

41%

38%

20%

7%

52%

38%

40%

52%

4%

41%






Regular Market Sale REO/Bank-Owned Property Short Sale

Escrow Closed on Time

Q. Did your escrow close on time?

36%

33%

32%

Regular MarketSale

REO/Bank-OwnedProperty

Short Sale

Usefulness of Information Gathered on the Internet

Q. How would you compare the information you gathered on the Internet to the information provided by your real estate agent?

8%

4%

56%

39%

0%

1%

7%

37%

55%

39%

49%

4%As useful as theinformation provided by

the real estate agent

Less useful thaninformation provided by

the real estate agent

Different informationthan that provided bythe real estate agent

Did not use the Internetto gather information

All Buyers Internet Buyers Traditional Buyers

2010 survey of california home buyers

Documents