Take a look at the home buyer statistics for Minnesota vs. the Nation provided by the Minnesota Association of Realtors.  Who are the buyers, what types of homes are they buying and where are they searching?

Characteristics of Minnesota Home Buyers

• 41% of recent home buyers were first-time buyers in Minnesota, compared to a national level of 39%, which is a slight rise from 2011.
• The typical buyer in Minnesota was 37 years old, while nationally the typical buyer was 42 years old, a modest decrease from 45 in 2011.
• The 2011 median household income of buyers was $80,600 in Minnesota and $78,600 nationally.  The median income was $57,000 among first-time buyers and $96,800 among repeat buyers, compared to $61,800 among first-time buyers and $93,100 among repeat buyers nationally.
• Nationally, 65% of recent home buyers were married couples—the highest share since 2001.  In Minnesota, the figure was 58%.  16% of recent home buyers were single females nationally—the lowest share since 2001; 19% were single females in Minnesota.
• For 30% of recent home buyers nationally, the primary reason for the recent home purchase was a desire to own a home.  In Minnesota, this was the primary reason for 27% of recent home buyers.

Characteristics of Homes Purchased

• New home purchases continue to drag at a share of 16% of all recent home purchases on a national level.  This is reflective of conditions in Minnesota, where 10% of homes were new.
• 73%  of home buyers purchased a detached single-family home in Minnesota, compared to 79% of home buyers nationally.
• The quality of the neighborhood, convenience to job, and overall affordability of homes are the top three factors influencing neighborhood choice; however, neighborhood choice varies considerably among household compositions.
• When considering the purchase of a home, heating and cooling costs were at least somewhat important to 87% of buyers and commuting costs were considered at least somewhat important by 76% of buyers nationally, compared to 85% and 79% of buyers in Minnesota respectively.

The Home Search Process

• For 41% of home buyers, the first step in the home-buying process was looking online for properties and 11% of home buyers first looked online for information about the home buying process on a national level.  In Minnesota, 41% of home buyers looked online for properties as a first step and 13% searched for information about the process online.
• The use of the Internet in the home search rose slightly on a national level to 90 percent and for buyers under the age of 44 this share increased to 96 percent.   In Minnesota, this number was 93% of all buyers and 97% of buyers under the age of 44. In Minnesota, 100% of home buyers 18 to 24 years searched for homes using the Internet.
• Real estate agents were viewed as a useful information source by 90% of buyers who used an agent while searching for a home in Minnesota, compared to 97% of buyers nationally.
• The typical home buyer in Minnesota searched for 12 weeks and viewed 15 homes, compared to 12 weeks and 10 homes on a national level.
• Nine in ten recent buyers were satisfied with the home buying process nationally, the same percentage of buyers satisfied with the process in Minnesota.