2018 Consumer Study: Buyers and Sellers Still Need Real Estate Professionals

Buyers and Sellers Still Need You

It’s true. More buyers and sellers than ever are using a real estate agent, and they choose one that was referred to them by someone they trust.

The California Association of Realtors®, The CE Shop and REAL Trends joined forces to produce a 2018 Harris Insights & Analytics study of recent buyers and sellers, and there’s good news for the industry.

While a more detailed report will be released soon, here are some high-level conclusions.

  • 90% of all buyers and sellers used a real estate agent in their transaction. This is up from 85% in a similar REAL Trends study done four years ago.
  • When asked what the most important factors were in choosing an agent, 69% said that it was essential to get a “referral from someone I trust.” That was followed

by “agents who had listings similar to what I am looking for (64%), “looking at websites with ratings of agents (62%) and having a personal relationship with the agent (57%).

  • 89% said that having a real estate professional assist in negotiating the best price, whether buying or selling, was extremely or very important. Interestingly, 83% said that “providing a list of homes to look at” was extremely or very important.”
  • 82% of these recent buyers and sellers say that they, “prefer to use a real estate agent for my transaction because they are professional.” The same 82% said that “I think of my real estate agent as a trusted advisor.”
  • One last important fact from the study regardless of the age cohort, 18-34, 35-54 or older, each age group was at or above 90% usage of a real estate agent.

The California Association of Realtors, the CE Shop, and REAL Trends will be releasing more detailed information, shortly.

The study was conducted in June-July 2018 and was composed of approximately 1,000 families who had bought or sold a home in the prior six months. Harris Insights & Analytics is among the most respected research firms in the world. REAL Trends has used them four times since 2001 to do similar studies.