Expensive web advertising drives off market transactions.
Real estate agents across the country are increasingly moving toward off market transactions. An off market transaction is defined as one where the agent only markets the property to their database and known buyers rather than listing on prominent media websites. Given the sophistication of industry Customer Relationship Managers (CRMs), it is plausible that an estate agent can expose a property to the vast majority of active buyers in the market. But these CRMs have existed for quite some time. Whilst they facilitate the effectiveness in off market sales, they are not the cause of the recent spike in transactions. Off market transactions have spiked because agents and consumers are looking to avoid the high cost of real estate websites. Start up companies that were started in a garage less than 20 years ago are now billion dollar companies on the back of real estate advertising. The price that agents and home sellers have been asked to pay for a web listing has increa