CINC 1Q 2022 Lead Value Index

The rising price of homes over the last several years coupled with the sharp decline in buyer lead costs has made online lead generation a much better value.

What do these trends mean for you - the Realtor? Check out the new lead value report data here.

If the trends of improving lead costs and increasing home prices continue – the value of real estate buyer leads will continue to soar.

CINC noticed these dual trends and set out to quantify what is the value of a lead and how has that value changed over time. Read the full report of our new Lead Value Index here. 

Using the Google buyer Cost Per Lead, the Median Home Price (NAR), the average commission, and the percent of leads that close, we created the CINC Lead Value Index. The Lead Value Index approximates the commissions that can be expected from a dollar in advertising. [The formula is (the median home sales price times the average commission percentage times the average percent of leads that close) all divided by the total Google buyer CPL.]

The Lead Value Index for the first quarter of 2022 was 19.95, compared to 16.38 for the fourth quarter of 2021. The median home price was $368,200 and the buyer CPL was $4.61. This means that $1 in real estate lead generation leads to nearly $20 in commissions. It is a 22% increase from the fourth quarter because the cost per lead was better in the 1st quarter and the median home price increased.

On a market-by-market basis, a few California markets show the best real estate lead values of the large markets. San Francisco is the highest at 35.8, San Diego is #3 at 31.9 and Los Angeles is #4 at 31.8. Miami interrupted the California streak at #2 with a 35.6 LVI. Last quarter's #1 was Boston, which this quarter showed up at #6 because its home prices didn't increase as much over that period as other markets. (Looking at all cities, Honolulu remains at the top with a 55.3 LVI.)

Interested in more information about the Lead Value Index? You can check out a recent webinar where we discussed the LVI in more detail here.

You can access the full detailed report here.

CINC is the leader in online real estate lead generation with more than 3,000 clients. The CINC client marketing team manages almost $30 million in search and social advertising spend annually.