Realtors® leverage new technology to better assist clients

Technology and the Internet are changing the way consumers and professionals achieve goals and success in nearly every industry imaginable.

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) annual Member Profile shows a 10-year history of Realtors®’ evolving use of technology, the Internet and social media and the role that technology plays in the real estate transaction.

There are significant differences between the 2003 and 2013 member surveys:

Smartphones

In 2003, mobile devices were a fairly new technology that hadn’t yet gained widespread use among Realtor® members. Ten years later, nearly nine out of 10 Realtors® reported that they use smartphones daily or nearly every day. They also rank among the most frequently used communication and technology tools used by Realtors® after e-mail and desktop or laptop computers.

GPS technology

According to the member profile, the use of GPS technology has grown in the past decade. Realtors® save their clients time as they navigate through neighborhoods. In 2013, nearly 40 percent of Realtors® reported they use GPS daily or nearly every day.

Websites

In 2003, 87 percent of Realtors® reported that their companies had websites but only 46 percent of the agents had their own individual websites. Today, 64 percent have their own website.

Social media and blogs

Blogs and social media were nearly non-existent in 2003. Today, 12 percent of Realtors® have blogs and 56 percent use social media.

Despite all the advancements in technology, only 41 percent of recent buyers believed technology skills were very important in selecting a real estate agent, according to NAR’s 2012 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. More than four out of five homebuyers considered their agent’s honesty, integrity, knowledge of the purchase process, responsiveness, knowledge of the real estate market, and communication skills to be more important characteristics.

As new and more advanced ways of leveraging technology emerge in the decade ahead, there is no doubt that Realtors® will continue to adopt those technologies to improve their business and better serve their clients.