http://www.experian.com/blogs/hitwise/2009/06/09/real-estate-looking-up-comparing-home-and-apartment-queries/ Insights about online marketing, e-commerce and industry trends Thu, 30 Aug 2012 13:37:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 http://www.experian.com/blogs/hitwise/2009/06/09/real-estate-looking-up-comparing-home-and-apartment-queries/#comment-27685 Matt Carter Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:48:28 +0000 http://www.experian.com/blogs/ilovedata/2009/06/09/real-estate-looking-up-comparing-home-and-apartment-queries/#comment-27685 Just remembered Heather Hopkins did compare the frequency of searches of "homes for sale" and sales of existing homes and found a "very strong correlation." <a href="http://weblogs.hitwise.com/us-heather-hopkins/2008/04/internet_searches_match_declin_1.html" rel="nofollow">http://weblogs.hitwise.com/us-heather-hopkins/2008/04/internet_searches_match_declin_1.html</a> But that was more than a year ago. Both searches and sales were on the decline at the time. Be interesting to see if the correlation is still as strong -- you would think searches might have picked up more than sales since then. Just remembered Heather Hopkins did compare the frequency of searches of “homes for sale” and sales of existing homes and found a “very strong correlation.”
http://weblogs.hitwise.com/us-heather-hopkins/2008/04/internet_searches_match_declin_1.html
But that was more than a year ago. Both searches and sales were on the decline at the time. Be interesting to see if the correlation is still as strong — you would think searches might have picked up more than sales since then.

]]> http://www.experian.com/blogs/hitwise/2009/06/09/real-estate-looking-up-comparing-home-and-apartment-queries/#comment-27684 Matt Carter Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:13:06 +0000 http://www.experian.com/blogs/ilovedata/2009/06/09/real-estate-looking-up-comparing-home-and-apartment-queries/#comment-27684 It would be interesting to know if searches for "homes for sale" really do correlate with existing home sales. Might be a lag, but seems like you could plot the numbers. Maybe there is no correlation. Maybe people just like to get on the Internet and see what's out there when the housing market is hot. They get swept up in the excitement, even if they don't really have the means to buy. In a down market, maybe people search for homes when they hear that prices are tumbling. But maybe they can't get a loan right now, or they remain reluctant to buy because they are afraid prices still have a ways to go before they hit bottom. You would think that a greater percentage of people who are searching for apartments really are looking for a new place to live -- it's just not as much fun to fantasize about an apartment that's beyond your means as it is to imagine owning a home you can't really afford. But some apartment searches may be by people who are researching rents to see if they can get a better deal than they have now (kind of a reverse "make me move" for renters). Those who are actually looking for an apartment may generate more searches when vacancy rates are low and it's difficult to find a place. When vacancies are high, you might see the ratio of searches to lease signings drop, because it's easy to find a place. There are so many confounding factors, seems hard to draw any meaningful conclusions from a comparison of home vs. apartment searches. It would be interesting to know if searches for “homes for sale” really do correlate with existing home sales. Might be a lag, but seems like you could plot the numbers.
Maybe there is no correlation. Maybe people just like to get on the Internet and see what’s out there when the housing market is hot. They get swept up in the excitement, even if they don’t really have the means to buy.
In a down market, maybe people search for homes when they hear that prices are tumbling. But maybe they can’t get a loan right now, or they remain reluctant to buy because they are afraid prices still have a ways to go before they hit bottom.
You would think that a greater percentage of people who are searching for apartments really are looking for a new place to live — it’s just not as much fun to fantasize about an apartment that’s beyond your means as it is to imagine owning a home you can’t really afford.
But some apartment searches may be by people who are researching rents to see if they can get a better deal than they have now (kind of a reverse “make me move” for renters).
Those who are actually looking for an apartment may generate more searches when vacancy rates are low and it’s difficult to find a place. When vacancies are high, you might see the ratio of searches to lease signings drop, because it’s easy to find a place.
There are so many confounding factors, seems hard to draw any meaningful conclusions from a comparison of home vs. apartment searches.

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