By Sabrina Karl
We conclude our multi-part series on the National Association of REALTORS’ extensive statistical profile of 12 months’ worth of U.S. home purchases with a look at the seller’s side of the equation.
Predictably, the typical home seller during the study’s 2018-2019 year-long period was older and more affluent than home buyers during the same 12 months. The median seller’s age was 57, while the typical buyer was in their mid to late 40s. Sellers also had a median income about $10,000 higher than the average buyer’s income (about $103,000 vs. $93,000, respectively).
Sellers typically lived in their home for 10 years before selling, with the top three reasons for the move being a desire to live closer to family and friends (16 percent), the need for a larger house (13 percent), and job relocations (11 percent).
Sellers netted final sales prices that averaged 99 percent of the seller’s final listing price, and at a median increase over the original purchase price of $60,000. The typical time on the market was three weeks.
Almost 9 in 10 sellers (89 percent) worked with a real estate agent to sell their home, while 8 percent were FSBO sales. The FSBO share continues to sit at its lowest level since the NAR began reporting this data in 1981.
Two-thirds of sellers found their agent through a referral from someone they know, or worked with an agent they’d used before. Three-quarters said they only contacted one agent before making a choice.
Seventy-five percent of sellers said they paid their agent’s compensation, and about a third (34 percent) indicated they offered buyer incentives.
The REALTORS’ annual survey was conducted in July 2019, capturing over 5,800 home sales between July 2018 and June 2019. Results were then weighted to represent U.S. population demographics.