HOMEBUYER INFORMATION SEARCH: AN EXTENSION OF THE TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL FOR REAL ESTATE WEBSITES

ii Buying a property can be an exciting, but also daunting, prospect for home buyers. A recent innovation for potential buyers and sellers which can aid this process has been the introduction of real estate websites, containing searchable databases of property listings and several interior photos of the property on offer. These websites are often touted as offering convenience and efficiency for the house buyer by enabling them to narrow the number of homes to seriously consider, and make a more informed market choice (Littlefield, Bao and Cook, 2000). This thesis explores the adoption of real estate websites by recent house purchasers in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand, with particular focus on the determinants explaining attitudes to use and moderating factors affecting their decision to use the real estate website. Exploratory interviews were undertaken with realtors, and a mailout survey used to gather both behavioural and attitudinal data from recent home purchasers. The research illuminates how using a real estate website influences subsequent purchase behaviour, in particular, how purchasers search for properties and the impact of using these websites on aspects such as search duration, other media types used, and the number of open homes visited. Mediating factors such as age, property type, professionalism and distance to market are also examined