57 Shocking Real Estate Statistics You Need To Know

The real estate industry is constantly changing, both in terms of the consumer market and the professional landscape. Staying up to date on the latest real estate statistics is a great way to impress your clients as well as better position yourself for success in a very competitive field.

We’ve pulled together 57 of the most compelling real estate statistics from across the real estate field, covering market numbers, buyer and seller behavior, marketing trends, and real estate agent demographics to help you better understand your industry and leverage your knowledge to get more leads and close more deals.

Here are the 57 real estate stats you need to know:

Real Estate Agent Statistics

Understanding more about the real estate agent population is important because knowing who your industry contemporaries (and your competition) are will give you a leg up on your own business practices. Check out the real estate agent statistics below, as well as our most important takeaways from this data.

1. More than 63% of real estate agents are women.

2. Only 43% of real estate agents have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher.

3. Nearly one in five real estate agents in the United States live in California.

4. Since 2000, the number of real estate agents in Florida has nearly tripled from 67,000 to more than 180,000.

5. The median age for real estate agents in the United States is 54.

6. The typical real estate agent receives upward of 30% of their business from repeat clients or referrals.

7. Some 20% of real estate agents have had their license for a year or less.

8. Around 71% of real estate agents specialize in residential real estate.

9. Some 48% of brokers report that “keeping up with technology” is the biggest challenge their agents face.

10. Real estate agents earning $100,000 or more in gross commission income are more than twice as likely to use advanced technology tools like a customer relationship management tool
(CRM) than agents who earn less.

Statistics courtesy of the National Association of Realtors, Real Estate Agent U, and Contactually.

Real Estate Agent Demographic Stats Major Takeaways

The results are pretty clear here; white women in their mid-50s remain the dominant force in the real estate industry.

Also, technology is both a challenge for most real estate agents, and also clearly associated with success. If you’re a real estate agent struggling to break through to the next level, it might be time to take a look at what you can do to level up your technology game with a great CRM or a website builder. Check out our article about the best real estate lead generation websites, each with their own CRM.

Real Estate Marketing Statistics

Property marketing is a critical topic for real estate agents because it often serves two purposes: To advertise properties an agent has listed for sale, and act as de facto advertisements for what you as an agent can do for potential listers. Make no mistake, when you are marketing your listings, both buyers AND sellers are watching.

Here’s our top 10 real estate property marketing statistics, along with the conclusions we drew from them.

11. By 2020, it is estimated that more than one out of every five commercial drone shoots will be for real estate purposes.

12. Some 73% of homeowners say they are more likely to list with a real estate agent who uses video to sell property.

13. On average, the third most viewed page on a real estate agent website is the “About Us” page.

14. Americans spend an average of 58 minutes per day on Facebook.

15. The average American Facebook user clicks on eight ads per month, 10 ads a month for women.

16. Around 69% of recent home sellers surveyed said that they would gladly write a review for their real estate agent if requested.

17. Homes with drone photography as a part of the marketing plan sell, on average, 68% faster than those without.

18. When asked about the most important trait they look for in a real estate agent, prospective home sellers chose “professional reputation” most often.

19. Recent sellers reported only 10% of their real estate agents effectively used video to market their property.

20. Facebook Live watch times have, on average, quadrupled in the last year.

Statistics courtesy of Hootsuite, The National Association of Realtors, Carrot, RIS Media, U.S. Association of Unmanned Aerial Videographers, and Autel Robotics

Property Marketing Stats Major Takeaways

Video, video, video. General internet marketers have been telling us for a while now that video is the king of the internet, and it’s becoming crystal clear that this is also the case in the real estate field. If you aren’t using video to market properties and yourself, you’re missing an opportunity that your competitors aren’t going to miss.

One of the best ways to get started in the video sphere is with video messages, and you can’t get better at that than BombBomb. BombBomb studies show that messages sent with video get 81% more replies, and creating a custom video message has never been easier. Check out BombBomb today; they have a 14-day free trial so you can start experiencing the power of video for yourself.

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Real Estate Market Statistics

Keeping up on the national trends in the real estate market helps you identify what could be coming down the pike for your neighborhood, but also gives you ammunition for the conversations you’ll have with potential buyers and sellers who get their real estate news from CNN or Fox News.

Check out our picks for the most interesting real estate market stats below, as well as our key takeaways from them afterward.

21. Responding to a continued national trend of an inventory shortfall, list prices year-over-year in April 2019 are up nearly 7%.

22. The Boston metro area continues to lead the nation as the hottest real estate market with an average list price of over $567,000 and a median days-on-market of two. The Boston area has seen their average listing price change year-over-year for April by 7%.

23. June is, on average, the month when homes sell the fastest in the U.S.

24. Home ownership rates in the U.S. have steadily risen since September 2016, coming in at 64.5% in April 2019.

25. In 2019, new home sales are expected to grow nationally by 6%, an increase of more than 667,000 homes over 2018.

26. The Midwest and Southwest regions of the U.S. are expected to have the most reliable growth in terms of sale prices in 2019, around 3% on average.

27. National home sales have increased steadily month-over-month in 2019, starting from 555,000 homes sold in December 2018 to 690,000 homes sold in March 2019.

28. The number of homes with a sales price of less than $200,000 has fallen steadily since 2012, starting at nearly 1.1 million to a projection of just over 400,000 in 2019.

29. Mortgage rates are, on average, 10% lower than they were in 2018, driving a mortgage application increase rate of 8%.

30. In 2018, 35% of residential properties sold for between 95% and 99% of their listed price.

Statistics courtesy of Redfin, and the National Association of Realtors.

Real Estate Market Statistics Takeaways

Home prices are on the rise, most likely due to increased pressure on inventory. Many people thought that the seller’s market we’ve been experiencing in the last few years was on its way out, but it’s clear that we’re going to see it for a little while longer.

This conclusion may seem to conflict with the fact that existing home sales continue to fall, but one explanation for these disparate facts could be that home sellers are worried about being able to afford a new home if they decide to sell, pressuring them to stay put.

Real estate agents should take this information as a cue that the prospective buyers and sellers in their market need to be educated so they can make the best choices on the next step in their home journey. A great way to educate sellers in a particular area is to start a real estate farm and really focus in on a neighborhood.

HomeBuyer Statistics

For most new real estate agents, working with buyers is the best way to break into the business. Having a handle on how the typical buyer operates will help you position yourself to pick up more buyer leads.

Here are our favorite homebuyer stats and our conclusions from them.

31. Some 59% of homebuyers under the age of 29 don’t expect to be in their home for more than 10 years; 28% of them plan on being in their new home less than five years.

32. As of 2018, millennials made up 37% of residential buyers.

33. One-third of homebuyers in 2018 were first-time homebuyers.

34. Around 18% of homebuyers in 2018 were single females.

35. The average millennial household income in 2018 ranged from $71,200 to $101,200.

36. In 2018, 85% of homebuyers identified themselves as Caucasian.

37. Some 74% of first time homebuyers occupy rental housing immediately before purchasing their first home.

38. One in five homebuyers in 2018 were willing to compromise on the condition of a home if the price and location were right.

39. On average, buyers search on their own for a new home for three weeks before contacting a real estate agent.

40. Other than finding the right property, millennials identified “understanding the home buying process and steps” as the most difficult item in the journey.

Statistics courtesy of The National Association of Realtors.

Homebuyer Statistics Takeaways

Millennial homebuyers have picked up steam and are now the most important segment of the buyer population. Why the most important? Because getting in with this crowd now will help you create a lasting relationship with buyers who don’t plan on being in their first home for long, so you’ve got another transaction (or two) built in when they become a client.

Also, given the high volume of first-time homebuyers currently occupying rental housing, targeting your lead generation toward rental communities seems like a surefire way to build your client base.

Home Seller Statistics

In order to become a top producer, you need listings, and lots of them. Listings are great because you have a whole community of buyer’s agents who are also working to get you a deal, making closing transactions easier. So, understanding the current status of today’s home seller is very important.

Here are our favorite home seller stats from the last year, as well as our takeaways from them.

41. Around 92% of homes in the U.S. are sold using a real estate agent or a broker.

42. About 75% of sellers sell their home with the first agent they interview.

43. The national median days-on-market for residential real estate in 2018 was 21.

44. Existing home sales have fallen month-by-month from February 2018 (5,600,000 homes) to January 2019 (4,900,000 homes) with growth in February 2019 and March 2019 (5,200,000).

45. In contrast, new home sales have grown month by month since October 2018 (550,000) to March 2019 (695,000).

46. Baby boomers make up an estimated 43% of the home seller market.

47. Some 41% of listed homes have a price reduction before they get an accepted offer.

48. About 34% of sellers offer some sort of incentive (closing costs, home warranty, etc.) to entice offers.

49. The average home seller cashes in 29% equity in their property when they sell.

50. Only 2% of home sales in 2018 could be directly attributed to newspaper advertising.

Statistics courtesy of the National Association of Realtors, and PropertiesOnline.

Home Seller Statistics Takeaways

Home seller confidence continues to be high, maybe a little too high. Home sellers should be confident in the current seller’s market, as evidenced by the shrinking inventory, climbing prices, and the fantastic equity returns they’re currently enjoying. However, with the number of price reductions and ultimately the number of incentives that home sellers have to offer homebuyers to get the deal closed, home sellers might be overestimating the market’s actual strength.

The best real estate agents are going to tamp down these seller expectations a little, which will ultimately get them a better deal.

Local Real Estate Market Statistics ― Cities That May Surprise You

After the housing market correction of 2008, the U.S.’s biggest cities were often the first to see any sort of recovery, and thus these markets saw growth as people flocked there for jobs and opportunity.

However, since 2015, growth in New York, Los Angeles, and even Chicago, has slowed to a crawl, each of these cities averaging an annual growth rate of less than a one-fourth percent per year in population.

But, the migration to cities hasn’t stopped. Seekers of new opportunity are headed to other cities with lower cost of living and still great opportunity. Here are the seven cities we’re keeping our eye on in 2019.

51. Atlanta, GA

Projected Five Year Population Growth: 1.3%
Median Resident Age: 33
Median One Bedroom Rent: $1,029
Median Single Family Home Sale Price (Greater Metropolitan Area): $224,100
Year-over-Year Median Home Sale Price Growth: 9.7%

52. Austin, TX

Projected Five Year Population Growth: 2.3%
Median Resident Age: 32
Median One Bedroom Rent: $1,154
Median Single Family Home Sale Price (Greater Metropolitan Area): $318,200
Year-over-Year Median Home Sale Price Growth: 7.4%

53. Boise, ID

Projected Five Year Population Growth: 1.6%
Median Resident Age: 35
Median One Bedroom Rent: $715
Median Single Family Home Sale Price (Greater Metropolitan Area): $274,700
Year-over-Year Median Home Sale Price Growth: 18.3%

54. Charlotte, NC

Projected Five Year Population Growth: 1.5%
Median Resident Age: 34
Median One Bedroom Rent: $961
Median Single Family Home Sale Price (Greater Metropolitan Area): $245,000
Year-over-Year Median Home Sale Price Growth: 5.1%

55. Columbus, OH

Projected Five Year Population Growth: 0.8%
Median Resident Age: 32
Median One Bedroom Rent: $740
Median Single Family Home Sale Price (Greater Metropolitan Area): $207,600
Year-over-Year Median Home Sale Price Growth: 7.1%

56. Denver, CO

Projected Five Year Population Growth: 1.3%
Median Resident Age: 34
Median One Bedroom Rent: $1,063
Median Single Family Home Sale Price (Greater Metropolitan Area): $450,100
Year-over-Year Median Home Sale Price Growth: 7.7%

57. Las Vegas, NV

Projected Five Year Population Growth: 1.4%
Median Resident Age: 38
Median One Bedroom Rent: $927
Median Single Family Home Sale Price (Greater Metropolitan Area): $294,600
Year-over-Year Median Home Sale Price Growth: 12.6%

Statistics courtesy of PWC, The National Association of Realtors, City Data, and Rentonomics.

Over To You

Was there a real estate statistic we didn’t cover that you’d like to hear about? A city we don’t have on the list that you know is booming? Leave us a comment below, let’s keep the conversation going.