For sale signs in Kirkland, WA by well known bubble blogger, The Tim.
Home seller trends for 2011
The 2011 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers recently surveyed 5,708 home buyers and sellers and reports that buyers are now more mature, higher income, often married couples as lending tightened this year in the down economy, which means those that were selling their homes also shifted this year.
The trade association reports that the typical age of a home seller in America jumped from 49 in 2010 up to 53 in 2011, a substantial increase from the typical age of 46 in 2009. The average income of recent sellers rose over $10,000 this year from last year’s reported $90,000, with higher incomes reported in the South and Northeast than the West and Midwest.
As with buyers, the share of married couples selling their home grew to the highest level since the National Association of Realtors (NAR) began producing this report, now at an astonishing 77 percent of all selling households. Single ladies account for 13 percent of home sellers and single men account for 6 percent and of all types of households, 63 percent of all sellers had no children.
Just as was discovered with home buyers this year, the home seller demographic was not diverse, with 94 percent of all recent home sellers claiming to be white and 98 percent reportedly speaking primarily English in their home.
The takeaway
When it comes to what the average home seller looks like, this year saw a major swing in the trends. The age of the average home seller is up substantially, as is income levels and the share of sellers being married, many without children. Those selling their homes are almost all Caucasian and speak English which leaves us to wonder how real estate brokerages will market differently for listings in the coming year with these new demographic statistics.
