TheMReport

TH E M R EP O RT | 51 O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST DATA The Science of Homebuying A recent study shows the psychology behind today's buyers and proves they're not the consumers of yesteryear. H omebuyers within the last two years are buying homes in certain areas for a variety of reasons, according to a recent poll conducted by Redfin. The survey—which began back in May 2017 and has since polled approximately 3,350 U.S. residents in 11 different metros across the country who have either bought a home, sold a home, or plan to do so—was conducted in the hopes of uncovering new perspectives and trends amongst recent homebuyers. Perhaps the most interesting finding of the survey was that one-third of homebuyers last year made an offer on a home that they'd never seen in person. Last year, that figure was at 19 percent, and two years ago, 21 percent. Further, millennials were more likely than any other generation to do so—41 percent, compared to Gen-Xers at 30 percent and Baby Boomers at 12 percent. "Millennials are already start - ing to set trends in the real estate industry," said Nela Richardson, Chief Economist at Redfin. "They are three times more likely than Baby Boomers to make an offer site-unseen, and they're more likely than older buyers and sellers to ne - gotiate commission savings. Despite their tech-savvy confidence, politics are seeping into millennials' deci- sions about where to live; nearly half cited hesitations about moving to a place where their neighbors wouldn't share their views." Interesting enough, only 40 per - cent of Gen-Xers said they would be hesitant to move to an area where a majority of the residents did not share their political view, compared to 29 percent of Baby Boomers and 46 percent of millen - nials. Still, the biggest contributing factor for the young generation was affordable housing; one in five questioned said that rising home prices were a direct cause of searching in a certain area. Mortgage rates had little to do with the house search for millen - nials, either. Only 5 percent said they would cancel their plans to buy a home if interest rates rose above 5 percent as opposed to 29 percent who said they would simply slow down their search and wait for rates to drop again. More Diversity Calls for New Strategies Data shows which demographics are growing—and where they're headed. Who should you be marketing to in order to leverage these changes? T he U.S. is becoming more diverse year after year; however, according to Trulia research, where you live has a big impact on whether you've noticed or not. This changing data could mean altering what demographic metros should be marketed to. Based on the U.S. Census Bureau's 2016 population estimates by race, age, and sex, Trulia studied what the 0.7 percent increase in population between 2015 and 2016 consisted of. They found that non-Hispanic white population growth is continuing to slow—only making up 0.2 percent of all population growth and accounting for the smallest portion of the Census' population estimates history. By contrast, Hispanics made up 50.7 percent of the growth; Asians, 23.4 percent; Blacks, 15.8 percent, and those that identify as two or more races, 8.6 percent. According to the 2016 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report, between 2010 and 2016, Hispanics accounted for 76.4 percent of the growth in the U.S. labor force or three out of every four new workers added to the U.S. economy. Since 2010, Hispanics have achieved a net gain of 1,103,000 homeowners, going from 6,198,000 in 2010 to 7,301,000 in 2016. In contrast, there were 2,270,000 fewer non- Hispanic white homeowners during the same period. Trulia reported that no metro saw an increase in the proportion of people under the age of 20 between 2015 and 2016, and only five saw an increase or had an unchanged proportion of 25- to 64-year-olds. All saw an increase in the share of population 65 years of age or more. Nationally, this share went from 14.9 percent to 15.2 percent. Of the biggest 100 metros, San Francisco and San Jose, California, are the only ones that experienced a decline in their populations identifying as Hispanic, falling 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. The most rapid change was seen in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Orlando, Florida. St. Louis was the most unchanged metro and the second-slowest changing since 2000, behind Pittsburgh. Trulia reported the current national racial population breakdown as 76.9 percent white, 13.3 percent black, 1.3 percent American Indian and Alaska Native, 5.7 percent Asian, 0.2 percent Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and 2.6 percent as two or more races. Of the 100 largest metro areas, 26 were majority minority, in which national minorities made up a majority of the local population. This is unchanged from 2015 but up from a 14 majority minority in 2000. "Millennials are already starting to set trends in the real estate industry. They are three times more likely than Baby Boomers to make an offer site-unseen, and they're more likely than older buyers and sellers to negotiate commission savings" —Nela Richardson, Chief Economist, Redfin

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