Survey: One in Three Recent Homebuyers Made an Offer Sight-Unseen, Up from Nearly One in Five a Year Ago

Forty-one percent of buyers would be hesitant to move to a place where people have different political views

More than half of Arab, Asian and Latino respondents said immigration orders influenced their home-buying or selling plans, according to a new Redfin-commissioned survey

A home for sale in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Business Wire)

SEATTLE--()--Thirty-three percent of people who bought a home in the last year made an offer without first seeing the home in person, according to a May survey of 3,350 homebuyers and sellers commissioned by Redfin (www.redfin.com), the next-generation real estate brokerage. In a similar survey last year, 19 percent of buyers said they had offered sight-unseen. Among recent Millennial homebuyers, 41 percent had done so.

Five other major findings include:

1. Affordable housing was the most prevalent economic concern, cited by 40 percent of buyers; rising prices caused 21 percent to search in other metro areas where homes cost less.

2. Forty-one percent of buyers would be hesitant to move to a place where people have different political views from their own.

3. Orders restricting immigration influenced the buying and selling plans of 52 percent of Arab, Asian and Latino respondents; 45 percent of minority buyers felt that sellers and their agents may have been less eager to work with them because of their race.

4. Buyers remain resilient amid the prospect of rising mortgage rates. Just 5 percent said they’d cancel their plans if rates surpass 5 percent.

5. Fifty-one percent of buyers and 46 percent of sellers saved money on real estate commissions.

“Millennials are already starting to set trends in the real estate industry,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “They are three times more likely than Baby Boomers to make an offer sight-unseen, and they’re more likely than older buyers and sellers to negotiate commission savings. Despite their tech-savvy confidence, politics are seeping into Millennials’ decisions about where to live; nearly half cited hesitations about moving to a place where their neighbors wouldn’t share their views.”

For the full report including more findings, charts and a detailed methodology, visit:
https://www.redfin.com/blog/2017/06/one-in-three-recent-homebuyers-made-an-offer-sight-unseen-up-from-one-in-five-a-year-ago.html.

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer's favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country's #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the automated home-value estimate with the industry's lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro areas across the U.S. The company has closed more than $40 billion in home sales.

For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin's press release distribution list, subscribe here. To view Redfin's press center, click here.

Contacts

Redfin Journalist Services:
Rachel Musiker, 206-588-6863
press@redfin.com

Contacts

Redfin Journalist Services:
Rachel Musiker, 206-588-6863
press@redfin.com