data-driven insights for 2023 and beyond
Today’s new
construction home buyer
DATA-DRIVEN INSIGHTS FOR
The ability to help a customer design their dream home, with the perfect finishes and up-to-date design, is more essential than ever.
HOME BUYERS THAT PREFER 3D TOURS
OVER IN-PERSON VIEWINGS
%
New Construction Buyers
%
Existing Home Buyers
43% of new construction buyers also feel at least somewhat confident making an offer on a new construction home after seeing it virtually but not in person.
Who is the new construction home buyer?
Years Of Age
Yearly Income
The desire to customize
is on the rise
NEW CONSTRUCTION BUYERS WHO INTENDED TO
CUSTOMIZE THEIR HOME FROM SCRATCH
%
2021
%
2022
virtual floor plans
PERCENTAGE OF NEW CONSTRUCTION BUYERS WHO PREFERRED TO SCHEDULE
IN-PERSON TOURS ONLINE
%
2020
%
2021
%
2022
MULTI-TOUCH MARKETING
Qualified buyers are typically “touched” six to eight times — this includes seeing one of your billboards, visiting your website, browsing listing networks, engaging on social channels, receiving a direct mail or stopping by a sales center.
METRICS TO MEASURE
Gross Leads
The raw number of leads delivered by a source. This does not exclude duplicates or bad phone numbers.
Speed To Contact
The time between a contact being submitted and when
it’s dialed. (Time called-Time submitted)
eCPL
Effective cost per lead; the amount spent or invested
divided by leads. (Investment/Leads)
Lead To Appointment
The percentage of leads that result in an appointment.
Appointment to contract
The percentage of appointments that result in a contract.
Cost Per Sale
Investment divided by sales attributed to a source.
virtual floor plans
NEW CONSTRUCTION BUYERS WHO INTENDED TO
CUSTOMIZE THEIR HOME FROM SCRATCH
%
Felt Confident Enough To Make An Offer
%
Apprehensive Because They Couldn’t Imagine What A New Home Would Look Like
The rising enthusiasm for customization may be the biggest trend uncovered among new construction buyers.
Market conditions are complicating financing
The mortgage still reigns supreme for buyers, whether they’re purchasing new construction or existing homes. In our survey, only 22% of new construction buyers reported paying all cash, a similar split to the 21% of existing home buyers who did the same.
PROPORTION OF FUNDS THAT MAKE UP THE AVERAGE NEW
CONSTRUCTION DOWN PAYMENT
%
Loan From Friends/Family
%
Other
%
Gifts From Friends/Family
%
Retirement Fund
%
Sale Of Previous Home
%
Saved Over Time
A comprehensive understanding of U.S. new construction buyers, Zillow Group Population Science conducted a nationally representative survey of more than 1,900 new construction buyers — buyers who purchased a new construction home in the past two years. To compare with existing home buyers, the survey also sampled over 2,700 existing home buyers who purchased in the past two years. The study was fielded between March and July 2022 with additional sampling in November 2022. Wherever possible, survey questions from previous years were asked in the same manner this year to allow for the measurement of year-to-year trends in key areas of interest.