New Study Examines Online Mortgage Buyer Behavior

Nov 14, 2018

Israeli-paid search startup Natural Intelligence has announced its expansion into the U.S. Natural Intelligence is already one of Google’s top advertisers.

The headquarters is in Tel Aviv and the expansion is due to the high growth of the company and more than 90 percent of its customers in the U.S. Natural Intelligence has figured out how to identify customers with the highest intent to purchase and match it with top paid search results rankings in the form of comparison Web sites.

Along with the expansion, the company is announcing the results from their recent study on consumer behavior and the online mortgage buying process, the third most expensive category in CPC search engine marketing.

Key findings from the study reveal that when it comes to searching online for mortgages, consumers have less allegiance to specific brands. Searches for non-branded keywords such as “Best Mortgage Rates” have increased more than 200 percent, while branded searches that include the name of a specific mortgage lender decreased by more than 60 percent.

As a result of this shift, the average cost of non-branded mortgage terms is now seven times higher than branded mortgage terms. Non-branded mortgage keywords are the third most expensive category in cost-per-click search engine marketing. Meanwhile, third-party reviews, recommendations, and comparison sites are the predominant path for high-intent borrowers looking for the best available mortgages.

With nearly 50 percent of homebuyers now searching for and securing mortgages online, the entire process has become increasingly more digital. Driven by Millennials, nearly all mortgage-related activities are now completed online–from searching for lenders and acquiring a mortgage to opting into recurring electronics payments.

“Consumers searching for mortgages are moving in lockstep with how they search for other products online,” said Brandon Schnitzer, Finance Industry General Manager, Natural Intelligence. “Today’s consumers know what they want, search for it, and compare details and ratings of from multiple providers. They very rarely start by going directly to a website of a specific provider. To better compete, mortgage lenders have to adapt to this changing consumer behavior.”

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Nov 14, 2018

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