Today Trulia released the results of a survey conducted by Harris Interactive® showing that U.S. home buyers are twice as likely to use online sources than print sources to find open house information. When asked what sources they have used or plan to use to find open houses, 62% of U.S. home buyers reported using online sites, compared to 53% who use information from real estate agents, 36% who use neighborhood signs and 31% who reported usingprint sources, including newspapers and local flyers to find open houses. 91% of all home buyers attend/plan to attend open houses. To check out the full study results, click here.
We’ve noticed a significant increase in consumer interest in open houses on Trulia, and this survey shows that it’s no fluke. Usage of open house filters has grown by 39% since the start of 2009. And consumers are much more likely to click on a dynamic open house ad than a static brand ad. In a case study with Prudential last year, the click through rate on new dynamic banners including open houses grew by 358% over traditional static ads. Plus, since launching Trulia’s iPhone application with open house search last summer, we consistently see spikes in usage on Sundays - the most popular open house day of the week.
Why are so many consumers going online to search for open houses? Home buyers want to do their homework and get a more comprehensive view of a listing before they make a decision to visit, and online resources provide MUCH more comprehensive data than what’s available in print. Plus, it’s much more convenient. When McGuire real estate agents surveyed random open house attendees about where/why they found their open houses, there was a notable theme of “convenient and easy” as the benefits of online search. As San Francisco home buyer Cammy wrote, “I search online, because I usually only have time to do my research late night. I don’t do newspapers!”
Your open houses not yet on Trulia? It’s super easy - just go to a property detail page, and click on “Submit Open House Times.”
Popularity: 3% [?]
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May 29th, 2009 at 5:40 am
When it comes to open houses, the best is to simply contact your Realtor or the listing agent directly. I am sure every city is different, but here in Santa Barbara, there is no way you can rely on anything online to cover all the open houses. Too many factors lead to changes of times, changing days, canceling the open, seller accepting offer etc. Talking to the agent on the phone is the true way to know when a home will be open so you are not wasting your time driving around. Just my thoughts.
May 31st, 2009 at 11:16 am
With the decline in print media advertising, specifically in newpapers, I think this trend will continue. I don’t ‘think’ this data is consisten in our market, but I do believe it will continue.