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THURSDAY 18TH AUGUST 2005  MAJORITY OF HOMEBUYERS RESEARCH ONLINE FIRST The majority of consumers now use the internet to research a house purchase and over one fifth would consider actually buying a home online according to a survey from new homes website SmartNewHomes.com. The survey looked into the online shopping habits of British consumers and discovered that flights are the most common online purchase amongst consumers, with 69.4% having bought plane tickets online. Books, CDs and DVDs, electrical goods and tickets are also frequently purchased on the internet, with over half of all the respondents reporting that they had bought these products online. Many more consumers use the internet to research their options before making their actual purchase offline. Houses and cars were the most researched products online by a long way, with 59.7% of consumers researching homes online and 46.8% looking at cars. The survey also asked which products consumers would not consider buying online. Around one third of consumers specified that they would not buy wine, groceries or cars on the internet and would only buy these items offline. Less than 10% said they would only buy a property offline. Better deals online Convenience in being able to shop in their own time was the number one reason consumers gave for preferring to shop online, closely followed by being able to get cheaper prices and better deals and having more options to choose from. Approximately £17 billion was spent online in 2004. Over half (55%) of the British population are now online and over 70% of these use the internet to search for goods and services which equates to over 23 million e-consumers in the UK alone. The SmartNewHomes.com website itself receives an average of over half a million visits each month – 120% more than two years ago. Virtual sales David Bexon, managing director of SmartNewHomes, comments: "More and more people are realising the benefits of using the internet to research and buy a multitude of products. The fact that an expensive and non-returnable item such as flight tickets is the most popular item to buy online shows the confidence that consumers now have in this method of shopping." Online shopping can often give the consumer a better deal or cheaper prices and allows them to research all their options from the comfort of their home or office. That is especially beneficial with a big commitment like a house purchase and is reflected by the large number of property websites in existence. With tools such as virtual tours and e-brochures becoming more common place, it is only a matter of time before we see consumers buying properties directly over the internet. "For buyers such as investors who purchase properties off-plan, this would not be a big leap from the way they currently buy houses, and any additional discount secured by cutting overheads equates to greater returns on their investment," said Mr Bexon. 50% online by 2010 In another survey, this time by first4sale, researchers found homeowners are increasingly side-stepping estate agents' fees by selling their property online. Estate agents are currently involved in the sale of around 94% of properties, but by 2010, the report predicts, up to 50% of house sales will be carried out over the internet without an estate agent. People in London were most likely to be prepared to side step estate agents and sell their property themselves at 81%, while those in Yorkshire and the Humber were least likely to at 61%.

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