In a recent report, Redfin discovered that one in three recent home buyers made an offer sight-unseen. The report surveyed over 3k people in 11 metropolitan areas (over the past year) who bought or sold a home, attempted to do so or plan to do so soon. They sought to better understand the perspectives and experiences of people who were recently in the market to buy/sell a home, and to reveal potential market trends. Once again we see millennials popping up as an important element of the data.
Their key findings:
- 33% of people who bought a home in the last year made an offer without first seeing the home in person. That’s up from 19% a year ago.
- Affordable housing was the most prevalent economic concern, cited by 40% of buyers; 21% said rising prices led them to search in more affordable metro areas.
- 41% of buyers would be hesitant to move to a place where people have different political views from their own.
- Orders restricting immigration influenced the buying and selling plans of 52% of Arab, Asian and Latino respondents; 45% of minority buyers felt that sellers and their agents may have been less eager to work with them because of their race.
- Buyers remain resilient amid the prospect of rising mortgage rates. Just 5% said they’d cancel their plans if rates surpass 5%.
- 51% of buyers and 46% of sellers saved money on real estate commissions.
“Millennials are already starting to set trends in the real estate industry,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “They are three times more likely than Baby Boomers to make an offer sight-unseen, and they’re more likely than older buyers and sellers to negotiate commission savings. Despite their tech-savvy confidence, politics are seeping into Millennials’ decisions about where to live; nearly half cited hesitations about moving to a place where their neighbors wouldn’t share their views.”
Click here to read the full report on Redfin.com.
