Insights from NAR's 2024 Buyer & Seller Profile

Main Points:

• Median age of sellers:

  Like buyers, the median age of sellers is continuing to rise and is at 63-years old as of 2024. This is the highest since NAR started tracking in 2005.
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• Who’s selling:

  And similarly to buyer, married couples and single females make up a huge portion of sellers (87%). This informs you who to cater to in the process.
  
  

• Number of children:

  77% of sellers had no children which is probably different than when they bought. Consider marketing geared towards what empty-nesters would want in a property and lifestyle.
  
  

• First-time or repeat:

  3 out of 4 sellers have sold before. That means most will have a general understanding of the process, but consider putting together a flyer/lead magnet on “what has changed since the last time you sold” as the industry is always evolving and this highlights your value of continuing education.
  
  

• Size of home bought and sold:

  It’s a relatively even split between people trading up, down, and a lateral move. More details come to light on motivation and when looking at age, younger sellers typically are moving up from their starter home and older sellers are downsizing a relatively small amount.
  
  

• Conditions of home:

  61% of sellers did some type of renovations to their property prior to selling. The 39% that sold as-is potentially left money on the table. Do you have a guide for sellers on what renovations they should complete to maximize value?
  
  

• Reason for selling:

  Use this information to cater your messaging to target certain sellers/buyers. Also, consider what that type of client would value and adjust your services to fit better with them.
  
  

• Seller tenure:

  People are holding onto their houses longer as the median time in the home has gone from 6 years through the 90’s and 2000’s up to 9-10 years since 2011. The 2008 crash kept people from making moves until the dust settled and the markets stabilized.
  
  

• Weeks on the market:

  The median time to sell was 3 weeks and this is consistent in Jacksonville as most properties sell within the first month. 65% of all properties sold within a month which points to value of using an agent. This can also be a measuring stick for your own business and how you compare.
  
  

• Discount for sitting:

  After a month on the market, price reductions set in and there’s a drop-off in what a seller gets for their property compared to what they listed at. Getting the price right up front helps sell the home quickly and for what you’re asking for.
  
  

• Price reductions:

  Interestingly, 65% of sellers didn’t do a price reduction. This means they got an offer on the first price. If you’re doing a price reduction, you’re in the minority and agents should put great emphasis on the initial list price rather than “trying out” the seller’s higher price.
  
  

• Incentives offered:

  Most offered none while a some gave on closing costs, home warranties, and repair credits. This shows how strong demand has been that sellers haven’t had to give more to get a deal done.
  
  

• Satisfaction:

  32% of sellers had room for improvement on satisfaction. My guess is that’s related to mismanaged expectations up-front that resulted in a worse-than-expected experience. Regardless of how the selling process goes, this stat is tied to how well agents were able to manage client expectations.
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