Home Sellers are More Confident, Less Fearful in Redfin Real-Time Home Seller Survey

SEATTLE, Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Redfin (www.redfin.com), a technology-powered real estate broker, today released its latest survey of home sellers. Data was collected just last week (Oct. 25 to Oct. 30), capturing sentiment of homeowners with the intent to sell. Five hundred sixty-seven homeowners from 20 markets across the U.S. responded. The Redfin Real-Time Home Seller Survey is a companion to the quarterly Homebuyer Survey and Agent Survey.

Results Snapshot:

• 83% believe that they would get a higher price by waiting one to two years, up from 80% in the third quarter;
• 43% of respondents are considering renting out their home rather than selling it, down from 46% last quarter;
• 31% intend to price their home higher than nearby comparable sales, which is unchanged from last quarter;
• 37% would choose an all-cash offer over higher offers with conventional or FHA financing, up from 35% last quarter;
• 40% cited the economy as a major concern with selling, down from 49% in the third quarter;
• 15% believe it is a good time to sell, up from 13% last quarter; and
• 58% believe it is a good time to buy, down from 61% last quarter.

The changes in the numbers were small, but consistent with a trend of sellers being more confident about their chances in the market, a little less interested in alternatives to selling (such as renting out the home), and a little less concerned about the economy. If these trends continue over the next few quarters 2013 could possibly result in an easing of the big inventory squeeze that has made headlines throughout 2012.

"At this point in the housing market, the only opinion that matters is that of the would-be sellers trying to decide whether to put their home on the market," said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. "Economists agree that the market hit bottom some time earlier this year and low interest rates have brought out more buyers than we've seen in years, but most sellers decided to wait for better prices. These attitudes aren't changing dramatically from one quarter to the next, but the direction has been remarkably consistent among both buyers and sellers: the market is slowly tilting in sellers' favor."

To view the full Redfin Real-Time Home Seller Survey, including data and charts, click here. In most cases, Redfin can also segment data by market and other customer demographics by request.

About the Report:

From October 25 to October 30, 2012, Redfin surveyed 1,287 people who had used Redfin in the last three months and indicated that they were a homeowner. Those who did not indicate an intention to sell their home were excluded. Five hundred sixty-seven people responded across 20 metropolitan markets in the U.S.: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Riverside / San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC.

About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate broker that represents people buying and selling homes. Founded and run by technologists, Redfin has a team of experienced, full-service real estate agents who are advocates, not sales-people, earning customer-satisfaction bonuses, not commissions. Redfin's online tools feature all the broker-listed homes for sale, as well as for-sale-by-owner properties that don't pay brokers a commission. The company serves 19 U.S. markets and has closed more than $5 billion in home sales. In 2012, Redfin was named one of The DIGITAL 100: World's Most Valuable Private Tech Companies by Business Insider. Follow us on blog.redfin.com, on Twitter @redfin, and Facebook.com/Redfin.

SOURCE Redfin