CINC 3Q 2020 Real Estate Leads Market Report

Real estate lead prices continued to improve during the 3rd Quarter of 2020. The cost per lead decreased substantially immediately after the Covid crisis began this Spring and it continued to post record results in the third quarter. This report focuses on Google Buyer advertising which is the majority of CINC’s advertising spend.

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

CINC’s US portfolio of advertising clients saw a 37% year over year improvement in lead price, with an average cost per lead of $3.68. This is the second lowest quarterly CPL in CINC's 10-year history - surpassed only by the 2nd quarter of 2020. It is the best ever third quarter CPL.

In the 94 top 100 markets where we had clients in 2019 and 2020, we had a lower cost per lead in all but one market in 2020 compared to 2019, with Omaha being the outlier. Every top 50 market saw their average CPL decline by at least 20%, with every top 20 market improving by at least 25%. Of the top 100 markets, 28 had lead prices less than $3 per lead.

The year-over-year gains in the third quarter were consistent throughout the quarter, so we expect similar gains to continue into the fourth quarter.

Get the complete report with data from the top 100 markets here.

Top 5 CPL Improvers (All Markets)
1 Davenport, IA -79%
2 Redding, CA -75%
3 Hartford, CT -70%
4 Wenatchee, WA -69%
5 Coeur d'Alene, ID -67%

Top 5 CPL Improvers (Big Markets)
1 Detroit, MI -56%
2 Baltimore -51%
3 Riverside, CA -51%
4 New York, NY -49%
5 Chicago, IL -46%

Top 5 Market CPLs (All Markets)
1 Hickory, NC $ 1.25
2 Corpus Christi, TX $ 1.43
3 Billings, MT $ 1.60
4 Wichita, KS $ 1.61
5 Syracuse, NY $ 1.61

Top 5 Market CPLs (Big Markets)
1 New York, NY $ 2.26
2 Chicago, IL $ 2.77
3 St. Louis, MO $ 2.90
4 Houston, TX $ 2.90
5 Atlanta, GA $ 2.95