| It may come as no revelation to anyone looking at a computer screen at this moment, but the National Association of Realtors reports that technology "is dominating many aspects of the real estate transaction process." Case in point: On Nov. 13, HomeSale Settlement Services, in collaboration with Simplifile, the Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds, and the National Notary Association, transacted the first completely electronic home-sale closing in Pennsylvania. The closing "sets the standard for the title and real estate industry in Pennsylvania," said Steve McDonald, who is Lancaster County's recorder of deeds, "and brings the real estate industry completely into the digital age." Still, the Realtors association's 2006 Profile of Buyers and Sellers said that most consumers prefer the traditional method of buying a home - using a real estate agent. The group is made up of 1.5 million real estate agents and brokers, and a survey finding to the contrary would have probably shaken the housing industry to its foundations. But, as chief economist David Lereah told the association's convention here last month, most of the 7,500 people responding to the annual survey said that "they begin looking for houses online, but most often learn about the home they buy from a real estate agent." Lereah added, "Even the buyers who learn about the house they buy online, buy it through a real estate agent." Those responding to the survey bought or sold a house between July 2005 and June 2006, which covers some of the early sluggishness of the market, said the Realtors group's Paul Bishop, who handled the research. "During that time, the number of first-time buyers dropped to 36 percent of the market from 40 percent. despite historically low mortgage rates," Lereah said. "The issue is affordability, since the price increases during the housing boom hurt first-time and low-income buyers. As affordability improves, the number of first-time buyers will increase." The survey found that 22 percent of home buyers in 2006 were single females, compared with 14 percent in 1995, which "says more about the society in both of those years," Lereah said. "The percentage of couples buying houses fell to 61 percent in 2006 from 77 percent in 1995." "Despite the increase in their numbers, single buye
... read the whole article |