Weekly Real Estate Chatter - Your 2-minute take on the real estate landscape

Trending: A look at post-pandemic trends and beyond

Digital House Hunting

Digital touring in the real estate world has been available for years, but usage of these technologies accelerated during the pandemic. Buyers often purchased a home without even seeing it by doing everything virtually: viewing, touring (3D tours), drone videos, virtual staging, mortgage applications, document signing, and even learning about their new neighborhood with sites like NextDoor. The trend continues to be a valuable tool for home buyers and sellers as we move forward.

From Cities to Suburbs

There's no doubt that people were on the move during the pandemic. The migration from cities to suburbs afforded people larger homes (more space) and lower taxes. Whatever the primary reason for relocating (more land/space, affordability), the trend is holding. Home buyers want out of the big cities, but often want a big city feel (i.e., shopping, walkability, easy transportation). Metro areas likely to rebound but could be 3 - 5 years for residential and commercial.

Sun Belt Influx

In the shift away from large metro areas, many are destined for the sun belt. It's estimated that approx. 75% of population growth has been concentrated in the sun belt, which stretches from coast to coast along the southern third of the US. It's not just retirees, but younger people also who are looking for more affordability. Areas like Dallas, Tampa, Austin, Nashville, and Phoenix are among the fastest growing. Interesting to note that we see prices starting to trend downward in areas that have been most inflated like Phoenix.

Single-Family Homes on Demand

Buyer demand for single family homes continues to rise. With millennials entering home ownership age, the number of available homes is not keeping up with demand, resulting in the lowest inventory in 40 years.