October 2017
Featured in this insight: Financial services, International
Housing survey finds US homebuyers are less likely to use online sources to obtain housing information: The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), also known as Fannie Mae, recently released their National Housing survey, which covers homebuyers from low-moderate income backgrounds across the US.
The survey asked 429 homebuyers, aged 18-65+, where they are most likely to find information on housing.
Out of those surveyed, the most common sources to retrieve information were:
- 77% real estate agents
- 75% mortgage lenders
- 69% online sources (such as mobile apps, social media and websites)
- 63% friends and family
- 23% financial planners and advisors
- 14% mass media
- 11% government agencies
- 5% non-profit housing counsellors
However, when asked which source was the most influential, the survey revealed that homebuyers prefer to get their information face-to-face with a relevant supplier, compared to visiting online sources.
The top three most influential sources were mortgage lenders at 32%, closely followed by real estate agents (30%), then family and friends (16%).
Nonetheless, online sources received high ratings with regards to the following categories:
- Convenience (46%)
- Usefulness (22%)
- Ease of understanding (12%)
Overall, despite homebuyers using an average of 3.4 sources to seek relevant information, mortgage lenders and real estate agents proved to be the most credible and trustworthy compared to information available online.
However, out of the 65% who used a mobile device to learn more about mortgages, 73% said they would like to learn more mortgage information via a mobile device in the future.
View more of our sector specific insights: Financial services
