A Decade of Change But Much Remains The Same
This week John compares the current real estate market to the Murfreesboro real estate market a decade ago and discusses the changes or lack thereof in buyer and seller profile statistics with the exception of the number of homebuyers using the internet to search for homes. The number of home buyers searching online has risen from 40% in 1999 to a staggering 92% in 2009 according to statistics released in January from the National Association of Realtors.
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Transcript
JOHN: John Jones here with another great edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee. Today, before we get started, I want to give a special shoutout to Coach Rick Stockstill of MTSU, Middle Tennessee State University. He’s our fine coach who took our team to a 10 and 3 year this year and also won a big bowl game over Southern Mississippi. Coach turned down quite a bit of a pay increase at East Carolina to stay here in Murfreesboro, and we’re so proud. You don’t hear those stories much anymore.
Says a lot about the man, a lot about his character, and we’re so glad to have him here in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. So thanks Coach Stocks and thanks to your family for staying here with us and being a part of our community. What I want to talk about today is some interesting things, what has happened in the last 10 years in our industry. I saw some really cool statistics this week, the difference between our industry in 1999 and 2009. The first one we’ll talk about is how many buyers now are using the Internet compared to 1999 in their search process for a home.
In 1999, it was 32%. In 2009, it was 90%. Median home value in 1999 was 137,000. In 2009, the median home value across this nation was 172,000, which sounds like a jump. When you factor in inflation, it really wasn’t. It was almost an even deal there. How many people were buying detached single-family homes in 1999? About 82% of all buyers were buying single-family homes. In 2009, that number was 78%, so just a small decrease. How many buyers were buying in suburban areas in 1999? 46%. In 2009, that number jumped up about eight points to 54%.
How many buyers were actually married in 1999 or married couples? That would be 68%. That number has dropped 8% to 60% in 2009 of all buyers were married couples. The median age of a buyer in 1999 was 39 years old and it was the same in 2009. And also, the three top categories for what people look for in a home in 1999 was unchanged to 2009 as well, and those were neighborhood quality, affordability, and convenience to work or school. So guys, I thought that was some interesting statistics to share with you guys. Obviously, the biggest thing that has changed the game in our industry has been the Internet.
Information is more plentiful; it’s out there for the public. It’s a helpful tool to the public, and quite honestly, it’s a helpful tool to real estate agents because we’re able to expose our homes to a lot more people in a lot quicker time. The one other thing I want to tell you guys about. Some real good friends of mine, Rusty and Elizabeth Rutledge, who have three children here in Murfreesboro, have felt God’s calling to adopt two children from Rwanda. And they’re going to have to raise money to do this. And there’s 140 million orphans in this world today, and they’re trying to make it two less.
I know if you’ve been watching the news lately on Haiti, it’s really kind of opened our eyes to the problem across this whole country with the orphans. And it’s really an amazing statistic. But they’re trying to do this, and they’re really good people, and they are going to raise money. So next week on Feb. 8, which is a Monday night at Jim N’ Nicks. If you go to Jim N’ Nick’s restaurant, a part of the proceeds of everything they take in that night will go towards the Rutledges to help them afford this adoption. It’s kind of an expensive endeavor. Also, there will be a silent auction that night of things that you can buy.
And anything that you can buy or that you could donate to the auction would be very helpful as well. If you want to be involved in that or to donate to the auction, you can reach me on our website at JohnCJones.com. Thanks a lot and we’ll see you next week.
