The typical American home seller is white, 46 years old, has a household income of around $80,000, and is also buying a home.
These are the general conclusions of Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report 2022, released on Tuesday. The report includes three nationally representative surveys of more than 5,900 unique sellers, conducted between March and June 2022.
Zillow found that the typical US seller is 46 years old and about 12% of sellers are in their 20s or younger. Data from the report overall showed that most sellers are in a relationship, married or already married, have at least a college education, and are the most likely to sell a home in the South.
About seven in 10 sellers said they were buying a home in addition to selling one; 44% of these double seller-buyers opted for a more expensive house than the one they sold. That’s down from 2021, when 55% of dual sellers-buyers bought a more expensive home.
Three-quarters of sellers are white or non-Hispanic white, which is more than the share of the overall US adult population that is white (63%).
The annual median household income among sellers is around $80,000 to $84,999, higher than the overall national median in 2021 of $65,700. In addition, 45% of salespeople have at least a bac+4, which is higher than 34% of decision-makers.
Consistent with the past four years, the typical seller received two offers, but a notable share said they received more. Nearly a quarter of sellers said they had received at least four offers, continuing the upward trend of 14% in 2020. Since 2019, the share of sellers who report selling without any offers (sellers who forgo the traditional sales process , often selling to friends or family) fell 11 points from 14% in 2019 to 3% in 2022.
Meanwhile, 57% of sellers said they received at least one offer that waived an inspection. However, 88% of successful buyers said they got an inspection before finalizing their home purchase. A similar proportion of sellers (84%) said a potential buyer had done a home inspection at least once.
Despite the rise of digital options like remote tours, 3D tours, and instant deals, Zillow found that sellers’ use of a real estate agent has remained high over the past three years. The typical seller still only holds one open house, but the share that forgoes an open house has fallen entirely over the past year: 33% said they had none in 2022, down from 43 % in 2021. Two-thirds of sellers said they never take their home off the market until it’s sold.
Other takeaways:
- Almost all sellers (92%) said they use an agent. About 73% said they hired an agent to help them promote their home and find potential buyers.
- Sellers who included a virtual tour in their listing were more likely to report receiving at least one all-cash offer (70%) than sellers who did not include a virtual tour (56%), and they generally sold 22% more.
- Most sellers (71%) said they completed at least one improvement project as part of the sale of their home, such as painting, redecorating, improving the kitchen, new appliances or replacing /repairing the floor covering.
