What and When Homebuyers Are Searching

Turns out, homebuyers aren’t spending their weekends searching online for homes.

It’s how they spend their Tuesday nights. According to recent data from Redfin for January and February 2022, homebuyers are most active looking for homes on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Weeknights are typically more active than weekends, and evenings are generally more active than mornings. Prior to the pandemic, Thursdays at 8 p.m. were the most popular night to look at homes, meaning consumers’ habits haven’t changed that much, despite lifestyle changes. One may expect weekday morning or afternoon browsing to increase, due to more people working from home or a hybrid schedule, but that has not been the case. Friday nights are the least popular night for online home browsing.

When browsing for their dream home after work, what are consumers looking for? Apparently, they are dreaming of warmer days already. Pools have taken a huge jump in popularity among searchers, Realtor.com® found that in the same time period, pools took the top spot for most-wanted features in a home. Continuing that theme, river view was second, followed by waterfront in third, beach in sixth, spa and/or hot tub in ninth and a water view in 10th. Homes with descriptors including some kind of water view were 46.4% more likely to have views compared to the average property.

In addition to being near water, consumers are also searching for more space for both themselves and their hobbies. Horse facilities was the fifth most-searched feature, followed by cathedral ceiling in fifth, big lot in sixth and a outbuilding/shed in eighth.