By 2006, a new high of $7.75 billion will be spent to market and promote Real Estate, according to Kelsey Group, a market research firm. The research also showed that around $3.43 billion, or 44.3% of the pie will be coming from online sources.
Kelsey Group senior vice president and program director of interactive local media and marketplaces Matt Booth stated: "Clearly, the underlying buyer and seller trends suggest we are reaching a tipping point regarding the transition of ad dollars from offline media to online media,"
Kelsey also conducted a telephone survey of 1000 sellers, who sold a property during the past 6 months and those planning to sell one, to check how many would opt to post an ad online first. The study revealed that only 7.3% will do such.
On the other hand, of all potential buyers, roughly 27% chose to go online first to check for real estate classifieds. Among the buyers opting to go online, 79% were in the age bracket of 18-34 years old.
A surprising 51% of the respondents who had a recent real estate transaction were in that age group.
Joanne delos
http://www.miamirealestateinc.com