WASHINGTON – Nov. 22, 2006 – Prospective homebuyers may derive some of their information on the housing market from the news media, but at the end of the day, the price of a home, mortgage interest rates and their housing needs mean more than news stories, according to a nationwide survey conducted for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
“While the majority of the households we polled indicated that they found the media a reliable source of information on the housing market, what they read in the newspaper, saw on television or heard on the radio was no substitute for actually going out and shopping the market,” says Thomas Riehle, a partner in RT Strategies, which conducted the research for NAHB. “When people are actually thinking about buying a home, they are driven by the details of how it will impact their family budget and lifestyle and contribute to their long-term wealth, and that gives them a much closer perspective on the market than what can be conveyed in news coverage.”
When asked to rate the importance of several factors that might affect their decision to buy or not to buy a home, survey respondents put the home’s price at the top of the list, with 80 percent citing its significance.
That was followed by: the potential for the new home to appreciate in value, 71 percent; the prospect of selling their current home at a fair price, 70 percent; the level of mortgage interest rates, 69 percent; and personal life changes, such as a new job or an addition to the family, 60 percent. On a list of eight items, news stories on real estate market conditions ranked second from the bottom, with 28 percent saying that it was an important factor behind their decision to buy.
When asked about the influence of the news media on their decision, only 19 percent of the respondents said it played an important role; 23 percent indicated that it had some importance on their decision; and 7 percent said it played a minor role. A full 48 percent said it had no influence whatsoever.
Sixty-one percent of the survey participants said that the media is “sometimes trustworthy” as a source of information on the housing market and 5 percent said that it is “always trustworthy.” Twenty percent and 8 percent, respectively, said it is “seldom trustworthy” and “never trustworthy.”
The NAHB survey of 2,000 households, including more than 1,750 registered voters, was conducted Oct. 26 to 29.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I agree completely. Homebuyers generally know what they want. And if they need housing they are not going to pay any attention to what the media is spouting. I have found that quite a few of my potential buyers have contacted me after driving by one of my listed properties that is using a rider with it's own personalized website.
Go to www.smartstreets.net
and check out their ideas. It is fast and easy and I am telling you it works!
Post a Comment