Who's buying houses: the typical homebuyer
By Dana Dratch • Bankrate.com

While the number of home sales has declined precipitously in the last few years, there are still some homebuyers out there.

Surprisingly perhaps, it's the same people who were buying a few years ago during the boom. There are just fewer of them.

So particularly in this tough market, an enterprising home seller might want to get a better idea of who a typical homebuyer might be.

For example, you might be surprised to learn that 60 percent of buyers either have no children or no children younger than 18 living at home.

Here's a glimpse of the typical homebuyer, by the numbers:

• Age: 39. • Household income: $74,000 (median). • Search: Takes eight weeks, sees 10 homes. • Location: Half of buyers want something within 13 miles of where they currently live. • Buys: 1,810-square-foot, single-family home. • Pays: $215,000 (median). • Down payment: 9 percent (median). • Bargaining power: • 36 percent pay asking price or more. • 37 percent pay 95 percent to 99 percent of asking price. • 28 percent pay 94 percent or less of asking price. • Family situation: • Married couples: 62 percent. • Single women: 20 percent. • Single men: 9 percent. • Unmarried couples: 7 percent. • Other: 2 percent. • Race: • Caucasian: 83 percent. • African-American: 7 percent. • Hispanic/Latino: 6 percent. • Asian/Pacific Islander: 5 percent. • Other: 2 percent. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest percent. Race totals more than 100 percent because some individuals fit into more than one category.

Editor's note: A median number is one in which half the numbers in the category are more and half are less. For example, if the median price is $215,000, that means half the buyers paid more than $215,000 and half paid less. In many statistics, median is considered more accurate than the average.