Real Estate Lead Cost Report for Buyers on Google | Q1 2025 Update

Due to expected seasonality, the CINC Google Buyer portfolio CPL dipped from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025, meaning the first quarter had increased lead flow compared to the preceding quarter.

Looking market by market - there was very little difference between the top markets this quarter versus last quarter. This is a recurring trend. It makes this report not particularly interesting to create, but it is a good indicator that CINC clients get consistent lead flow - which is a good thing.

St. Louis once again had the lowest cost per lead. It was followed again by Chicago and Philadelphia. 

I expect the CPL to increase moderately in the second quarter based on the normal seasonality - generally the first quarter of the year has the lowest CPL.

Looking at all markets, Warner Robbins, GA, had the lowest CPL with a tiny 30 cents per lead. Bangor, ME, and Kingston, NY were in 2nd and 3rd place.

A few of the top 25 markets saw year-over-year decreases in lead cost in Q1 2025. 

For the 26th-50th largest markets, Indianapolis, IN (32% CPL change) San Jose, CA (87% CPL change, and Austin, TX (31% CPL change) saw the largest growth in CPL during Q1. 

Of the 51st to 75th largest markets El Paso, TX saw the largest growth year over year (84% CPL change). 

For the 76th-100th largest markets Stockton, CA (116% CPL change), Youngstown, OH (119% CPL change) and Boise City, ID (49% CPL change) saw the largest growth in CPL in Q1. 

CINC is the leader in online real estate lead generation with more than 50,000 clients. This behind-the-scenes lead cost data is what we were seeing for our portfolio of real estate team and agent clients during Q1 2025. The CINC client marketing team manages almost $30 million in search and social advertising spend annually for real estate teams and agents across the United States and Canada.  If you want to see how CINC can help you find more higher quality hyperlocal real estate leads on Google, request a demo here. 

Additional Google Real Estate Lead Gen Resources from CINC:

With the real estate market shifting, it is more important than ever to be more efficient paying for leads on Google.  Try our free local Google real estate targeting tool here to find hidden pockets of more cost effective hyper-local leads near you.

Watch our recent on-demand real estate lead gen webinar here where we discuss new trends for real estate teams and agents on Google Ads, including a deep dive on Google Local Service Ads (LSA's) for realtors.

Here are links to past historic Buyer Cost Per Lead Reports for Q4 2024,Q3 2024, Q2 2024, Q1 2024, Q4 2023, Q3 2023, Q2 2023, Q1 2023, Q4 2022, Q3 2022, Q2 2022, Q1 2022, Q4 2021, Q3 2021, Q2 2021, Q1 2021, Q4 2020, Q3 2020, Q2 2020,  Q1 2020.