This week on The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast, Qadra Evans of Zillow New Construction joins Greg and Kevin to discuss the 2024 Zillow New Construction Consumer Housing Trends Report and what the results reveal about new construction buyers.
Zillow’s most recent housing trends report takes an in-depth look at new construction buyers. Qadra says,
“…it tracks 2,500 buyers of new construction within the past two years. And we are learning about how they shop, what they’re looking for, what draws them to builders, what draws them to listings online, and then we can help guide builders to give these buyers of new construction what they want.”
The purchasing behaviors of new construction buyers vary from buyers who are looking to purchase existing homes. Qadra explains,
“They’re wanting different things, and they have to shop differently because new construction isn’t something that they can always see, touch, feel, go into, so they’re shopping differently. And they want different things when they’re buying a new construction home. Maybe they’re looking for something they can completely customize. They want to put their own stamp on this home. There’s some reason that they’re drawn to new construction over a used home. And so, that’s what we wanted to learn through doing these surveys is what do they want and how do we get them what they want.”
Home builders should focus on helping buyers recognize the benefits of buying a new construction home versus a used home. Qadra says,
“…figure out a way to educate buyers on the value of new construction. Whether that be the features that you offer or the incentives that you can offer that help them offset their monthly costs, really be able to take a pen to paper or a pad to finger, whatever you’re using, and show them what it means for their bottom line. Because only then are they really going to understand how you as a builder of new construction are offering them what they can never find with resale.”
Listen to this week’s episode to learn more about new construction home buyers.
About the Guest:
Qadra Evans is a real estate industry veteran based in Denver, CO with over 20 years in the field spending the last 7 years with Zillow now serving as the Director of Industry Relations and Sales for New Construction. She started with Zillow in 2017 as part of the Broker Relations team working with leadership teams at the largest real estate brokerages in the country then spent 2 years leading the development of a national real estate brokerage.
Qadra now brings her expertise to the homebuilding industry creating the opportunity for key partnerships and sharing valuable news, updates, products, data and research with the industry at large. She is a member of the Executive Leadership Team for The House That She Built and helped drive the creation of its very own Zillow listing! Her early career began in traditional real estate and led to a tenure as an Asset Manager for a company managing large REO portfolios for banks during the Recession.
Qadra now holds real estate licenses in six states and assists Zillow with its brokerage operations in addition to her Industry Relations role. She has a BA in Technical Journalism and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.