More and more buyers and sellers are beginning to take full advantage of the internet to list and search for homes. Some couples are even purchasing houses off the internet without having ever seen the house before, apart from pictures and virtual tours offered on some internet sites.

Recently I traveled to the USA, and one Sunday morning over a cup of coffee I read an article in the national newspaper USA today. In the article titled ?Home shoppers do their hunting online' a couple bought a $USD 410,000 home in Tulsa that they bought 100% over the internet according to the article. The same article also mentions that already 80% of buyers used the internet to help find a home. That's a big audience when you put it into perspective the countries population.

In the US housing market, the current slide in new home sales is at its worst position in 13 years according to the Commerce Department report released 28th Feb. The sale of new one-family houses in January 2007 (937,000) were 16.6% below the revised December rate of 1,123,000 homes. The median sales price of new houses sold in January 2007 was $USD239,800; the average sales price was $USD313,000. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 536,000. This represents a supply of 6.8 months at the current sales rate. (For more detailed information visit http://www.census.gov/const/newressales.pdf)

Economically, the US is sending mixed signals. Some of the positive signals from the market indicate unemployment is low at 4.5%(1), consumer spending is 4.2% (2) stronger than the previous quarter, and inflation is almost stationery. Some of the negative signals are home sales have retracted 19.1%(2), manufacturing has retracted by 1.7%(3) and business spending is off by 2.4%(2). Gross Domestic Product rose by 2.2% (seasonally adjusted) for the October and December period. This was up slightly from the previous period, but was down from earlier estimates of 3.5% according to the Department of Commerce.

Typically the second quarter is the strongest for new home sales according to the Department of Commerce. With the slowdown in new home sales in the US, and the quick-to-take-up attitude of online buyers and sellers there has never been a more prudent time to capitalise on the ability to expose yourself to a global or national market. By breaking down the geographical barriers and harnessing a new wave audience, this could just be the advantage you need to sell your newly purchased home.

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