Every year the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) conducts a comprehensive report entitled 2023 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers that describes the statistics of the residential real estate market for that year. It includes home buyer statistics, home seller statistics and For Sale By Owner statistics.
Home Buyer Statistics
- First-Time vs. Repeat Buyers:
- First-time buyers: 32%
- Median age of first-time buyers: 35
- Median age of repeat buyers: 58
- Median household income of first-time buyers: $95,900
- Median household income of repeat buyers: $111,700
- The typical home purchased was 1,860 square feet in size, was built in 1985, and had three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
- Among those who financed their home purchase, buyers typically financed 85% of the home price.
- 89% of buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker.
- Buyers who would use their agent again or recommend their agent to others: 90%
- Where buyers found the home they purchased:
- Internet: 52%
- Real estate agent: 28%
- Yard sign/open house sign: 4%
- Friend, relative, or neighbor: 8%
- Home builder or their agent: 6%
- Directly from sellers/Knew the sellers: 3%
- Print newspaper advertisement: less than 1%
Home Seller Statistics
- The typical home seller in 2023 was 60 years of age, had a median household income of $111,100, and lived in their home for 10 years.
- 89% of sellers were assisted by a real estate agent when selling their home.
- Recent sellers typically sold their homes for 100% of the listing price, and 32% reported reducing the asking price at least once.
- The typical home sold was on the market for 2 weeks.
- 39% of sellers who used a real estate agent found their agents through a referral by friends or family, and 26% used the agent they previously worked with to buy or sell a home.
- Sellers who definitely would use same agent again: 73%
For Sale By Owner (FSBO) Statistics
- FSBOs accounted for 7% of home sales in 2023. The typical FSBO home sold for $310,000 compared to $405,000 for agent-assisted home sales – an average 30% difference.
- FSBO methods used to market home:
- Friends, relatives, or neighbors: 20%
- Yard sign: 19%
- Third party aggregator: 14%
- Social networking websites: n/a
- For-sale-by-owner website: 5%
- Open house: 7%
- Online classified ads: 4%
- Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Website: 5%
- Other website with real estate listings: 1%
- Video hosting websites: 1%
- Most difficult tasks for FSBO sellers:
- Preparing/fixing up home for sale: 4%
- Getting the right price: 15%
- Understanding and performing paperwork: 7%
- Selling within the planned length of time: 7%
- Having enough time to devote to all aspects of the sale: 4%
- Attracting potential buyers: 4%
- Helping buyers obtain financing: 5%
Source: 2023 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (National Association of REALTORS®)
Not included in this report is the affect of the instant buyers – AKA iBuyers – on the the residential market. Direct buyers (or “iBuyers”) of real estate are corporate entities that use either their own cash, venture capitalist funds, Wall Street-backed funds, or a mix of them all to buy real estate directly from sellers. We do have statistics that in 2023, a little over 24% of all homes sold went to investors. Thas has dramatically hurt the inventory of available homes esecially in the tightest, more popular markets. And they are buying for less!
The ONLY way to NET full market value and take away the most possible proceeds from your home sale is to make it available to the open market for buyers to view and present offers. Therefore, it is important to request a current market analysis (CMA) from a local real estate professional so that you may be armed with understanding what your home’s true fair market value is on the open market.
Get your instant, no-obligation market analysis now: