The annual “REALTOR® Technology Survey Report 2012” was recently published and we wanted to share some of our most interesting findings!
This report is conducted at a national level and surveyed 1,139 brokers, broker-owners, associate brokers, sales agents, as well as managers. The survey simply asks respondents to examine how they used technology in their real estate business experiences for 2012. We believe this report is an excellent indicator of what direction the real estate industry is headed in regards to technology use, and is a great way to confirm your efforts with technology and compare them to the industry norm.
Did you know that in 2012 realtors spent an average of $852.00 on some form of technology to benefit their real estate business? This is up from $707.00 in 2011. Real estate agents actually spent an average of $822.00 in 2012, while brokers spent an average of $1,112.00. (REALTOR® Technology Survey Report 2012, pgs. 20-21)
The report is quite extensive, so here are few of what we think are the most interesting statistics.
Mobile
In the last two years, iPhone use has nearly doubled, moving from 28% in 2010 to 45% in 2012 (pg. 18). It was discovered that 94% of Realtors use a mobile device to communicate with clients, and of these, 60% take pictures with their phone and post them online, while 59% keep up with the news (pg. 30).
Social Media
Social media is becoming a big part of the real estate world, with “89% of all REALTORS® [using] social media in some way.” Of these, a whopping 80% use social media specifically for their real estate business, and 29% report that they are “comfortable” using it and 20% report that they are “extremely comfortable” using it. (pg. 35)
What are the most popular social media tools among realtors? Facebook and LinkedIn are at the top of the list, although there has been a small decrease in use since 2011 (pg. 36).
Real Estate Websites
The number of agents and broker associates with real estate websites is up to 72%, while brokers and managers with company websites is up to 79%. The number of agents spending up to 5 hours a month on their websites has even increased from 48% in 2011 to 52% in 2012. (pgs. 44-45)
Another interesting fact is that the top three most important methods of lead generation continue to be referrals, repeat business and the Internet (pg. 39).
This report clearly reveals that real estate agents are relying more and more on technology to reach out to clients and fulfill their business needs. If you haven’t yet taken the step to start your own real estate website, the time is ripe! We offer beautiful websites at affordable prices, with excellent IDX solutions and tons of proven real estate WordPress add-ons, including one to make your website mobile optimized so that you can reach out to all those Smartphone users. Contact us today to get a quote!
Follow this link to read the full REALTOR® Technology Survey Report 2012.