Wonder what 2019 is going to look like for the real estate market? Or, even more importantly, how you and your real estate business should prepare for the future?
Of course, you are. Because you’re an entrepreneur and you want to grow a consistent and predictable source of income.
Fortunately, this year looks good overall, with an expected 1% increase in sales, a 3.1% increase in median home price. It will likely be a softer, less intensely thriving market than 2018 or 2017, but a healthy one nonetheless.
But that optimism won’t keep the market from changing. In the words of real estate Yoda, “Change, the real estate market will so change with it, you must” (Disclaimer: I made that up).
Yoda aside, I dug around and found some relevant real estate stats for your 2019 marketing strategy. Here’s what I learned and some main takeaways for each set of stats.
33 Real Estate Statistics that’ll Change your 2019 Strategy
General Real Estate Statistics
- In 2018, 5.5 million existing homes were sold in the U.S. (Source)
- In 2017, 612,000 newly built homes were sold in the U.S. (Source)
- There are approximately two million active real estate licenses in the U.S. (Source)
- Redfin’s Housing Demand Index went from 124 in May of 2018 to 131 in September of 2019 (Source)
- By 2020, the real estate industry will account for 22% of commercial drone use.
- House listings that have aerial photographs sell 68% faster than properties with standard images. (Source)
- There are almost 44 million renter-occupied houses and 75 million owner-occupied houses in the U.S. (Source)
- From 2016 to 2017, apartment construction climbed by 21%, putting apartment supply at a 20-year high. (Source)
- The U.S. economy grew by 2.6% in 2018. (Source)
- House ownership is falling and renting is on the rise, with a 2.3% increase in U.S. renters in 2016. (Source)
- Zillow’s Zestimate feature is typically erroneous by $14,000. (Source)
- On real estate websites, the “About Us” page is the third most-viewed page. (Source)
- Home prices rose by 4.8% in Q3 of 2018 (Source)
- Interest rates increased to 2.27% in 2018 (Source)
- The number of online real estate leads is increasing (up 65% from 2016 to 2017), but the conversion rate is taking a dip (down 10% from 2016 to 2017). (Source)
Main Takeaways
- Consider getting into the rental market — As demand for rentals increases, consider getting in front of this trend, buying and holding rentals as a passive income stream.
- Start using drones for house photography — If you want to sell houses faster (which you do), then you might want to consider investing in a drone to take aerial photographs. These house listing images don’t just look pretty — they make the property sell about 68% faster.
- Buy and rent out apartments — The market loves apartments right now. Consider getting some of your own and using them for passive income.
- Give your “About Us” page a little more love — While this page is the third-most important page on your website, it’s also probably the most neglected. Stop neglecting it. Set it up to build trust with website visitors so you’re not losing leads to a shoddy “About Us” page.
House Buyer Real Estate Statistics
- In 2018, first-time homebuyers made up 34% of all homebuyers. (Source)
- 65% of homebuyers 37 years and younger were first-time homebuyers in 2018. (Source)
- In 2017, Millennials accounted for 33% of homebuyers. (Source)
- In 2017, 56% of homebuyers 36 years old and younger found their homes on the internet and 50% of buyers between the age of 37 and 51 found their homes online. Older buyers over the age of 51 years old were the only group that sought out an agent first. (Source)
- Across all generations, half of all homebuyers use the internet to find a home and 93% of buyers who are 36 years old or younger frequently use the internet during a house search. (Source)
- The typical homebuyer searches for 10 weeks and looks at 10 properties before choosing a house. (Source)
- In 2016, there were 5% more homes built than in 2015 (from 1.108 million to 1.163 million). (Source)
- In 2017, 52% of homebuyers were first-timers while 48% were repeat buyers. (Source)
- 44% of all homebuyers end up buying a home that they found on the internet.
- Over half (51%) of home shoppers claim that YouTube is their favorite video research platform. (Source)
- Almost 90% of home-buying Millennials, Gen X’ers, and young Boomers bought a home with the help of an agent in 2016. (Source)
- 84% of homebuyers found online information to be a crucial part of their house search. (Source)
- By 2025, Millennials are expected to form 20 million new households in the U.S. (Source)
Main Takeaways
- Pay attention to Millennials — Now, millennials are between the age of 22 and 37 years old. Which makes them fall within the average home-buying age of 31. They’re tech-savvy and they like the internet (I know because I am one :D), so make sure that your website is fast and user-friendly.
- Get your website’s SEO dialed in — Since so many people are using the internet to find a home, real estate investor, or real estate agent, you need to be visible online. That, of course, is easier said than done. Write consistent content, target the right keywords, and your rankings will start to rise. You can find a more thorough real estate SEO strategy here.
- Post consistent videos on YouTube — YouTube is the second most-used online search engine right behind Google. To drive traffic and find leads on the platform, make videos and build your YouTube following. You can find out more about doing that here.
- Make sure your website converts as best it can — The last thing you want is to drive traffic to your website and still land zero deals from that traffic — believe me… it happens. If people don’t trust your website or it’s unclear what you want them to do, they’ll leave faster than they arrived. To make sure your website is set up to convert visitors, consider this conversion optimization checklist.
House Seller Real Estate Statistics
- By July 2021, the total median home price reached $390,500.
- On average, sellers receive 98% of the listed price. (Source)
- Staged homes spend half the time on the market compared to non-staged homes and they regularly sell for about 6% above the listed price. (Source)
- In southern states, home sales are expected to grow by 6% in 2018 rather than 2.5% (the national average). (Source)
- 70% of homeowners prefer to list with a real estate agent who uses video marketing to advertise their home. (Source)
Main Takeaways
- Consider hiring a professional house stager — Heck, why wouldn’t you do it if the house will spend less time on the market and the seller will get 6% above the listed price? Seems like a good investment for you and the seller.
- Use video marketing — The more options that you offer for advertising someone’s house, the more house sellers who’ll want to work with you. A video is one of those above-and-beyond kinds of marketing options. It takes just a little more work on your part but really flatters the house sellers. You can find out more about real estate video marketing here.
Conclusion
For real estate professionals who adapt to the changing industry, 2019 holds loads of potential. And for those who refuse to change, 2019 is going to present a problem… a big problem.
Drones, Millennial buyers, third-party listing websites, and virtual tours make it increasingly difficult for stubborn agents and investors to increase revenue. If you want to make 2018 one of your best years yet — which you do — then you need to change with the times.
And the times are increasingly online.
Which means you need to have your own website that drives traffic and converts visitors. Then, you need to market yourself correctly.
At Carrot, we’ve driven over one million leads for thousands of real estate professionals by building websites, educating our audience, and helping them implement the most recent marketing strategies.
Want to get onboard?
You can check out our plans page — and let us know if you have any questions in the comments.
Either way, make 2019 a year that you’ll want to repeat by the end of it. :-)
