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Realtors' tech use increases in 2006

Consumers benefit from an increase in the number of Realtors who are using technology due to greater access to more information and increased communication efforts. Making property listings available on the Internet and using a variety of communication devices are key factors in Realtors' use of technology.

The number of Realtors with websites has increased dramatically over the past five years, and many of the sites display property listings, according to a new survey by the National Association of Realtors.

The 2006 Realtor Technology Survey reveals the Internet ranks third in generating leads, behind referrals and repeat clients, and ahead of community involvement.

Realtors have invested heavily in Internet technology and security, through Multiple Listing Systems and individually, in the past several years. For example, the survey showed thus far in 2006, 56 percent of agents spent more than $1,000 apiece on technology and that 30 percent spent $2,000 or more. In addition, 16 percent of agents and 28 percent of brokers are now spending more than $1,000 annually on their websites. Realtors with personal business websites--not including an area on a broker's site--was 71 percent in 2006, compared to 31 percent in 2002, showing a jump of 129 percent.

"Consumers are able to use information portals to look for homes to buy because Realtors have invested huge amounts of resources in technology to make accurate information available on secure sites, thus bringing added value to the transaction. All this information is available to consumers free of charge, 24 hours a day," said Thomas M. Stevens, 2006 NAR president.

In addition, Realtors are able to respond more quickly to online inquiries. In a surprising change from past surveys and findings, more than half the survey respondents indicated it takes them less than two hours to respond to an Internet inquiry, and only 2 percent indicated it took them more than a day to respond. That compares with a 2004 survey showing only 27 percent of practitioners responded within eight hours to an online inquiry and 46 percent of inquiries received no responses.

The survey shows use of automated transaction management systems, used to electronically monitor each step of the real estate process, continues to rise, moving from 13 percent in 2005 to 26 percent in 2006, with 70 percent of users saying they are satisfied with their applications.

The survey was based on data from field research conducted in April of this year. The survey was emailed to 20,000 NAR members, including agents and brokers and generated 719 usable responses.

The association's Center for Realtor Technology was established to provide technology leadership, guidance and assistance for members. The center makes available informed industry insight, research and open-source applications through its mission of implementation, advocacy and information.

The National Association of Realtors is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Information provided in this column is presented by the Realtor members of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors at www.silvar.org. Send questions on any topic to pcardus@silvar.org.