Who's Buying Real Estate in Florida

Florida Association of Realtors released information recently on 2008 findings for buyers. Here's a few of the statistics collected on profiles for the Florida buyer.

First-time home buyers accounted for 43 percent of recent home purchases. The median age of home buyers was 43 years old. Among first-time buyers, the median age was 32. Fifty-eight percent of home buyers were married couples, 18 percent single females, 13 percent single males, and 9 percent were unmarried couples. Forty-eight percent of first-time home buyers were between 25 and 34 years old. The primary reason for the recent home purchase was a desire to own a home for 60 percent of first-time buyers.

And perhaps most important for obtaining and helping buyers is this statistic:Forty-six percent of home buyers reported using social networking Web sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Friendster. Among home buyers aged 18 to 24, 85 percent reported using social networking sites, and 50 percent reported using them every day or nearly every day.

The Web is used. Real estate agents have to be part of that electronic media.