Real estate agents and others with real estate industry interests have never had a wilder two years than these past two. However, there have been ways to continue pursuing your livelihood even as a hot seller’s market dominates and inventory sinks to record lows in many areas.
Top real estate agents across the country offer insights into trends that will dominate for those who are selling and buying homes in 2022. Keep these in mind as you make choices throughout your business and decide how you want to discuss particular homes with potential customers.
Sellers Enter Market More Readily With Potential Interest Rate Jumps
Hopefully by 2022, the market will get some of the supply that it desperately needs. Even sellers have seen some downsides: while yes, there are sellers walking away with huge returns on their homes, many are also having to buy at the same time in this painfully inflated market. Also, a competitive bidding war can drive customers to make offers that they later regret and attempt to cancel in phases like the inspection. This wastes time for all the parties involved.
The hope is that, if the Federal Reserve discusses bringing interest rates back up, sellers who want to catch the end of the seller’s market before interest rates go too high will jump into the market. This loosening of inventory can create options for buyers, who won’t be buying something just because it’s the only thing in their range that is available.
Hybrid Schedules Mean Home Offices Remain In Demand
Because many employers are finding ways to continue work flexibility and remote work opportunities, expect to see homes in the coming years to list things like home offices just as highly as they list bedrooms and bathrooms. Dedicated home office space, especially with a closing door, is at a premium these days as many people realize that the ‘new normal’ is going to be at least a few days a week taking Zoom calls and spreading out documents at a home desk. This is a chance for sellers to get creative with alcoves and built-in desks, since these spaces might have been awkwardly situated before but can now be billed as an office space.
Face Facts: Walkable Neighborhoods Are Trumping Short Commutes
Finally, framing a home based on its convenience to a highway or a downtown office park is less likely to capture buyer interest than ever before. Of course some people will choose based on a short commute, but the growing trend is toward wanting walkability for the home. Taking walks with the dog, grabbing a few groceries at a local market, or getting to a park without a car are all growing in value. Sellers are creating simplified maps and documentation to showcase just how much one’s life could be improved by the walkability offered at their home.
No matter how your business is affected by these trends, you’ll be better off recognizing that they are still exerting an influence even as the “post-vaccine mindset” has moved many other elements of life back to something close to normal.
