sources__nar-2025-buyer-profile.md
slug: sources/nar-2025-buyer-profile title: NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers — synthesis kind: source_summary tier_visibility: insights tags: [source, nar, buyer-behavior, research] backlinks: [ai/chatgpt-citation-signals, channels/instagram-for-agents] sources:
- title: NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers url: https://www.nar.realtor kind: research
- title: Realtor.com — 82% use AI for real-estate insights url: https://www.realtor.com kind: research
The NAR Profile is the most-cited buyer-behavior dataset in the industry; this is the Brain's working synthesis of what it actually says about how buyers find an agent in 2025 — not the marketing gloss [src:nar-2025-buyer-s1].
The buyer journey has compressed and digitized. The Brain's read:
- Buyers are starting the agent search online, not via word of mouth at first contact. The referral happens later, after a shortlist already exists from search.
- "Search" is splitting into Google and AI. A material fraction of buyers ask an AI assistant for an agent shortlist before they Google [src:realtor-survey].
- Reviews dominate the decision more than any other published signal. See concepts/review-reply-discipline.
- Brokerage brand carries less weight than the agent's individual digital presence — meaningful for solo agents and for brokerages whose roster page is the only digital footprint of half their team.
What the Profile does not say (and what some "AI SEO" pitches imply it says): there's no NAR data establishing Instagram or TikTok as a primary discovery surface for agents. See channels/instagram-for-agents.