Ever wonder what your coworker is so intently staring at on her computer screen? Maybe its pictures of adorable dogs on Facebook or Donald Trump’s latest rant on Twitter, but according to Redfin’s latest data analysis, there’s a good chance they’re simply searching for a new home.
Redfin.com experiences a 64 percent spike in user search activity on Fridays at 10 a.m., making it the most popular time to look at listings. The second most popular time is Mondays at 11 a.m. when user search activity increases by 61 percent. Overall, Redfin says, buyers tend to search during the workday (tsk-tsk) more than any other time of the week, with weekday evenings being the most unpopular.
Wednesdays at 9 p.m. is the most unpopular time for user search activity (-7.4%), and during the weekends (6 p.m. on Friday and 7 a.m. on Monday) the site only experiences a 22.4 percent rise in activity — a far cry from the 64 percent spike seen on Friday morning.
“One possible explanation is the popularity of weekends for hitting the pavement and touring homes in person rather than through a computer or smartphone screen,” said Redfin’s Dana Olsen in the report. “Another reason could be the rise in real estate technology tools such as those offered by Redfin.”
Zillow highlighted the importance of online search tools in its 2018 Consumer Housing Trends Report, noting that 79 percent of all buyers use sites such as Redfin, Zillow, and Trulia to find the perfect abode.
The average buyer spends 4.4 months searching before making a purchase, and relies on these sites to find comprehensive data about the home and its history (59%), an agent or broker’s evaluation of the home (47%) and pictures of the home (46%).