Real Estate Agents Report on Home Purchases and Mortgages - 2009

Key statistics and facts from the survey results include:

The market for home purchases can be divided into segments of 26% for
damaged REO, 23% for move-in ready REO, 14% for short sales, and 36% for
non-distressed properties.

Forty-three percent of homebuyers are first-time homebuyers, 29% are current
homeowners, and another 29% are investors.

First-time homebuyers account for the majority of move-in ready REO sales while
investors account for the majority of damaged REO sales.

Current homeowners concentrate their home purchases on non-distressed
properties and buy comparatively less damaged REO.

Real estate agents expect appraisal issues to be the No. 1 reason for
cancellations of signed Purchase and Sales agreements over the coming
summer months.

Only 31% of non-REO home sale listings are unforced or optional; other major
reasons for listings include financial stress (including short sales), long distance
relocation, and divorce or estate sales.

Homeowners are choosing to not list homes primarily because of “Falling prices”,
followed by “Competition with distressed properties”.

For first-time homebuyers, “Government incentives to buy (tax credits, mortgage
deduction)” is the No.1 motivation to buy.

For current homeowners buying homes, “Retirement relocation” and “job
relocation” are the No.1 and No. 2 motivations to buy, respectively.

“Sale of residence” is the No. 1 impediment to current homeowners seeking to
buy another home.

“Downpayment for mortgage” is the No. 1 impediment to first-time homebuyers
seeking to buy a home, followed by “Slow answers on short sale offers.”

Seventy-six percent of first-time homebuyers accept a mortgage
recommendation of the real estate agent, 68% of current homeowners accept a
recommendation, and 53% of investors accept a recommendation.

On average, mortgage servicers take 9.5 weeks to provide a “yes” or “no”
response to an offer to buy a short sale property.

According to real estate agent respondents, “Mandated one-week response time
on short sales offers” is the No. 1 rated action that the government could take to
increase home sales and stabilize prices.

According to real estate agent respondents, “Provide consistent one-week ‘yes’
or ‘no’ response to offers” is the No. 1 rated action that the mortgage servicers
could take to increase short sales.

According to real estate agent respondents, “Provide consistent one-week ‘yes’
or ‘no’ response to offers” is the No. 2 rated action that the asset managers could
take to sell REO properties with lower overall losses; the No. 1 rated action is
“Turn on utilities for inspections.”