The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has put together a retrospective of the real estate market for the last decade. Notable developments: In 1999, buyers who went online in search for a home were in the minority – only 37 percent of buyers used the Internet in their home search. Today, 90 percent of buyers are searching online. Despite the current price declines, median home values over the past decade have increased more than 25 percent, from $137,600 in November 1999 to $172,600 in November 2009. Fewer people are buying detached, single family homes – 82 percent in 1999 compared to 78 percent in 2009 – but more people are buying homes in suburban neighborhoods – 46 percent in 1999 compared to 54 percent today.
Married couples comprised 68 percent of all home purchases at the beginning of this century but only represent 60 percent of all buyers today. Single men and women have made up the difference – single men purchased 10 percent of all homes last year, compared to only 7 percent 10 years ago. Single women now represent more than one-fifth of all home buyers – 21 percent, up from 15 percent in 1999. Other things haven’t changed. The median age for home buyers last year was 39, just as it was in 1999. Neighborhood quality, affordability, and convenience to work and school have consistently been top priorities for both past and present buyers. And eight out of 10 recently surveyed consumers believe that owning a home is an investment in their future. “... one constant during [the last 100 years] has been the persistence of homeownership as the American Dream,” says NAR president Vicki Cox Golder.
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