The National Association of Realtors, NAR, annually mails 150,000 questionnaires to American home purchasers. The reports returned from 2007 buyers produced the statistics below. More information is available in NAR's publication, "Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2007."
- The typical home buyer searched for eight weeks and viewed ten homes.
- The primary site utilized during the home search process was a Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Realtor.com was the second most visited site.
- 90% of homes sold in 2007 were on a MLS, making it a great source for home buyers.
- 93% of all home buyers financed their recent purchase.
- The most common down payment source was from the buyer's savings; the second was proceeds from the sale of their past home and the third was gifts from friends or family.
- Among all home buyers, 65% reported that the agent was compensated by the seller, while 15% of buyers were responsible for the agent's compensation. For the other 9%, both the seller and buyer paid the commission.
- The average length of time between receiving a sales contract and the closing date was five weeks.