Homeowners are increasingly turning to real estate agents for help in selling their home, as the share of for-sale-by-owner sales remains at the lowest share on record, according to
National Association of REALTORS®
’ 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
Sellers’ use of a real estate agent remained at an all-time high this year at 89 percent, according to the survey. Meanwhile, for the third consecutive year, for-sale-by-owner sales continued to be at the lowest share in the history of NAR’s survey at 8 percent.
“Homeowners understand the value, and seek the expertise and guidance REALTORS® bring to the table when it’s time to sell their home,” says William E. Brown, NAR’s president. “Despite incredibly favorable market conditions for sellers, where finding interested buyers was not a problem, nearly all turned to a REALTOR® to help assist them through the intricacies of listing their home on the market, accepting offers, negotiating the sales price, and closing the deal.”
Sellers reported mostly being satisfied with the performance of their agents, too. Eighty-eight percent of sellers surveyed indicated they were satisfied with the selling process, and 85 percent said they are likely to use their agent again or recommend him or her to others.
Buyers say they need agents too, even though a rising share are turning to the Internet for real estate information. Eighty-seven percent of buyers said they ended up purchasing their home through a real estate agent. They said help finding the right property to buy and assistance in negotiating the terms of the sale were the two main things they most wanted from their agent.
“It’s no surprise a majority of first-time buyers indicated that the top benefits received from their agent were help understanding the buying process (83 percent), pointing out unnoticed property features or faults (60 percent), and negotiating better sales terms (51 percent), Brown said. “REALTORS® over the past year have helped buyers, and especially first-timers, navigate extremely competitive market conditions where the need to be prepared and act quickly has been paramount to the success of purchasing a home.”
Source: “2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers,” National Association of REALTORS®
(Oct. 30, 2017)
