If you just take the information compiled by the National Association of REALTORS® bi-annual survey of buyers and sellers, you would think you had plenty of time to catch up on your Internet marketing, but an overview of the latest Internet commerce data may cause you to put on the after-burners instead.

Released in July, the NAR survey revealed that about 18% of buyers used the Internet to search for homes, along with other means such as open houses, newspaper classifieds, and of course, Realtors. The executive summary of the survey states that "Use of the Internet in searching for a home is growing rapidly, increasing nine-fold over the last two years." Two percent of home buyers found the home they ultimately purchased on the Web. But the fact that the survey was based on closed transactions only and that it was conducted through the end of 1997, an eternity by Internet standards, the actual home buyer search figures may be significantly higher.

According to the most recent traffic figures reported by RealSelect, operator of Realtor.com and HomeBuilder.com, Realtor.com has more than 69 million page views a month and over 120 million home views a month. Each home is viewed approximately 91 times.

Approximately 4 million consumers visit Realtor.com per month. When you cons ider that the number of homes sold this year by Realtors is more than 4.5 million, it can only be estimated how many of those home buyers initiated or completed their home buying search on Realtor.com or one of its agent pages.

The most significant statement in RealSelect's report is this: Realtor.com is one of the first places on-line consumers begin their home buying search, with 86% accessing the site within the first month of their search.

According to a recent report compiled by Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., consumers are using the Internet primarily for information gathering and sharing, shopping and networking. Increased Internet consumer usage is predicted to increase across the board for many industries, especially the real estate industry.

Prudential totals the number of people using the Internet at 47 million (data provided by Intelliquest 1997.) By the end of this year, 18% of people will be hooked to the Internet, up 5% from last year. By 2001, the number will rise to 38%. According to the report, this year's 18% represents 17.7 million households and 2001's 38% represents more than 40 million households (IDC.) Of this Internet population, based on the MarketTarget study, 57.8% are homeowners.

According to the U.S. Census, there are over 60 million households in the United States today, with the median household occupied by 2.5 persons. At the current household/Internet user rate, there could well be over 1.2 persons per household using the Internet.

A recent study performed by ActivMedia reports that of five major growth sectors to launch into e-commerce, real estate is ranked second, followed by publishing and finance. Currently Internet shoppers are spending $4 million per day.

Published: December 10, 1998

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.