According to the National Association of Realtors, current home sales reflect the best quarterly existing sales pace in a decade and are poised to climb 3.5% in 2017, a strong indicator that now is the time to capitalize on the market, especially with first-time buyers.

The study, now in its 10th year, measures satisfaction with the nation's largest real estate companies among customers in four segments: first-time buyers; repeat buyers; first-time sellers; and repeat sellers. Overall satisfaction is measured across four factors of the home-buying experience: agent/salesperson; real estate office; closing process; and variety of additional services. In the home-selling experience, the same four factors are evaluated plus a fifth factor, marketing. Satisfaction is measured on a 1,000-point scale.

"With the real estate market remaining strong, it is more important than ever that agents, buyers and sellers focus on the trade basics, especially for first-timers," said Greg Truex, senior director of the at-home practice at J.D. Power. "When agents remain transparent, informative and responsive, they can greatly impact customer satisfaction and increase agent reputation and recommendations."

Following are some key findings of the study:

• Updated and consistent marketing strategies are key: An agent's relationship with a buyer is the most important factor in determining customer satisfaction. For sellers, marketing of the home is the most important factor, as it is the most visible way for the seller to gauge the agent's support.

• First-time buyers are most impressed: Overall satisfaction with real estate companies is higher among first-time buyers, compared with satisfaction among repeat buyers or sellers. The average overall satisfaction score among first-time home buyers is 857, and is slightly lower (842) among first-time home sellers.

• Hand-holding is worth it: Satisfaction is strongly influenced by the amount of time agents invest in keeping customers informed vs. when they are not kept informed. Among first-time buyers and sellers, satisfaction is 117 points higher among buyers (874 vs. 757, respectively) and 93 points higher among sellers (859 vs. 766, respectively). Among repeat buyers and sellers, satisfaction is 210 points higher among buyers and 192 points higher among sellers when they receive a timely response to questions and concerns vs. when they do not (870 vs. 660 and 862 vs. 670, respectively).

• Word-of-mouth is still vital: First-time home buyers and sellers report good reputation and recommendations from friends, family and colleagues as the two main reasons for selecting a real estate company. More than one-third (35%) of first-time buyers and 44% of first-time sellers indicate they chose their real estate company based on its reputation, while 24% of first-time buyers and 17% of first-time sellers made their selections based on recommendations.

First-Time Home-Buyer Satisfaction Ranking

Century 21 (867) ranks highest for a fourth consecutive year and performs particularly well in the agent/salesperson, closing process and variety of additional services factors. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (862) ranks second and performs particularly well in the real estate office factor.

Repeat Home-Buyer Satisfaction Ranking

Keller Williams (863) ranks highest and performs particularly well in the closing process, real estate office and variety of additional services factors. Coldwell Banker (857) ranks second.

First-Time Home-Seller Satisfaction Ranking

Century 21 (859) ranks highest for a fourth consecutive year and performs particularly well in all five factors in the segment.

Repeat Home-Seller Satisfaction Ranking

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (858) ranks highest and performs particularly well in the agent/salesperson, marketing and closing process factors. Century 21 (846) ranks second and performs particularly well in variety of additional services.

The 2017 Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction Study includes 5,117 evaluations from 4,170 customers who bought and/or sold a home between March 2016 and April 2017. The study was fielded in March-April 2017.