Not quite as many older buyers as the general population use the Internet when shopping for a home, but they are just as versatile in their surfing and use the Net to go well beyond just browsing for housing.

Nearly half of all home buyers 50 years and older use the Internet as a part of the home buying process. Among that group 92 percent research comparable prices, 61 percent look for a specific real estate agent and 19 percent research neighborhoods, according to "Moving Forward: 50 and Beyond," research sponsored by the California Association of Realtors' Senior Advantage Real Estate Council (SAREC), which oversees the national-level Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) designation.

Overall, the percentage of home buyers who used the Internet as an integral part of the home buying process increased to 62 percent in 2005, compared with 56 percent the previous year, according to the California Association of Realtors' (CAR) "2005 Internet Versus Traditional Buyers Survey," the sixth annual such survey. Among that group, none of those surveyed said the Internet information was more useful than that obtained from their agent.

"Home buyers ultimately turned to their Realtor for both interpretation of information gleaned from the Internet, and for their Realtor's expertise and judgment throughout the home buying process. Home buyers clearly view the Internet as a tool to enhance their ability to research the real estate market, rather than a replacement for a Realtor's expertise in the field," said Jim Hamilton, CAR president.

Earlier this year, traffic on real estate websites had risen by nearly 20 percent compared to a year ago, but some of that was attributed not to home searches but because of heightened fears about over-priced homes.

Internet searches for "real estate bubble" skyrocketed 311 percent and searches for "housing bubble" zoomed 174 percent, both reaching a 12-month high the week ending May 28, 2005, as visitors searched major search engines like Google, Yahoo! Search, MSN Search and others, according to research by New York City-based Hitwise.com, an Internet use tracker.

As for older home buyers, 82 percent of them remain within their home state and moved less than 100 miles from their previous home, the SAREC study said.

They likely sought out regional information online.

The 18 percent who did move to a new state (most often Florida, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Virginia), typically the younger 50-and-overs, likely needed information about another market their local agent often couldn't provide.

"While the prospect of retirement is an exciting time for most (older home buyers), many have not planned for the economic issues that arise as a result," said Nathan Booth, senior advisor to SAREC.

"For (older home buyers) choosing to remain in the work force, or even retire early, help is needed in finding the best and most prudent use of the resources available to them in real estate. It has become increasingly important to understand the changing and emerging buying and selling habits of (older) home owners," Booth added.

Published: November 16, 2005

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.