C.A.R. & H.A.R. Say Technology Will Take You Far

If you’re the kind of person that digs surveys, polls and red-hot press releases, you’ll want to follow the news from two large industry trade associations that came out back to back yesterday. The California Association of Realtors released their results of their latest technology survey. Most notable was the stat that reported Realtors garner 44% of their business from the Internet. I’m pretty sure you’ll see that number bouncing around the blogosphere and elsewhere for some time to come. 9% of Realtors surveyed are involved in blogging and forums. I was surprised at how high that figure was. If left to blogging alone I think you would have seen it down around 2 to 5%. What I found most intriguing was the fact that 97% of the respondents have a high speed net connection, compared to consumer numbers that one is off the charts. The center for media research puts the consumer rate at 60%.My pals at the Houston Association of Realtors are so focused on technology that they dedicated their entire leadership conference this year to technology. From the sound of things all of the real estate tech heavyweights were at the CAR event so they jumped into the hallways and used their iPhones to call in to the HAR shindig. HAR took the opportunity to release some research information of their own. According a University of Houston study, over 60% of consumers using the web for real estate related activities reported HAR.Com as the most valuable real estate portal in their web endeavors. That’s an impressive number indeed. No details were given in the story regarding the number of consumers surveyed. This year’s HAR chairman, Michael Levitin was quoted in an RISMedia story as saying:

“There is no more important mission than to have the leadership and members of HAR understand the impact the Internet has had and will continue to have on our industry”

I couldn’t agree more. I guess we’re gonna party like it’s 1999. With the exception of a few nifty enhancements, it’s the same Internet. The attitudes and platitudes seem to have undergone the most change, at least I hope so. No more lions coming over the hill I guess. What a difference almost a decade makes huh?