Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen the real estate market cycle through ups and downs, and new trends have emerged from a changing society. So, what’s next for the market and what real estate housing trends can we expect to see? We’re giving you our expert predictions on this year’s real estate housing trends.
A COVID-19 Conundrum
Depending on if you were buying or selling a home in the last year, housing market trends stemming from the novel Coronavirus could have drastically impacted you in a very positive or very negative way. A major trend we saw from this pandemic was a mass movement from homeowners all over the country.
With the ability to work remotely for many jobs and industries, people were able to move away from their workplace location. Many cities saw an initial decline in residents as businesses were shut down and employees enjoyed the freedom to move to more suburban areas spread out with more land.
The real estate market also experienced low mortgage rates, but a shortage of builders and suppliers. This combination ultimately led to high demand and even higher prices for homes.
Predicted Real Estate Housing Trends for 2022
While there are many highly calculated projections and models predicting what will happen to the real estate market in 2022, there is not one extremely strong consensus as to what will happen as we continue to navigate this pandemic era.
Some experts predict the continuation of high prices due to low supply and high demand, while others predict a slowdown of the market, with home prices dropping closer to what the typical average yearly growth would look like in any other normal year.
Let’s take a closer look at two of the possible outcomes.
2022 Real Estate Housing Trends: Continuation of Growth
The continued growth of the current real estate housing trends would include higher home prices, a continuation of growth in the suburbs, with high demand. One particular group of buyers ready to pull the trigger on a home is millennials–those aged in their late 20s to late 30s looking to buy their first homes.
According to Realtor.com, if this pattern continues we can expect to see 16-year highs for home sale prices nationwide. As we recover from the pandemic and the job market looks more promising, an increase in income levels will also help to fuel this increase in home prices.
2022 Real Estate Housing Trends: Slower and A Little Steadier
An alternative to the strong growth of the market is the possible outcome of slower growth as home prices even back out.
Once again, as we recover from the pandemic the rest of the industry is able to catch up. Designers, builders, and suppliers have figured out how to operate, so supply will begin to better match with demand, and the market will rely less on existing inventory. While this trend does estimate less of an increase in home prices moving forward, prices are still predicted to increase, just not as severely.
In Conclusion…
Experts estimate the 2022 real estate market could perform in a variety of ways, but only time will truly tell. However, there are trends you can be certain to look out for:
- Suburban areas will continue to experience the greatest activity of home purchases. The suburbs remain the most stable option for purchasing a home, while cities will experience greater rental activity.
- Worker flexibility will remain a key factor in real estate movement. The overwhelming response to remote work opportunities indicates that employees want to be able to work from home. This means less time spent driving into the office, and more sprawl away from denser business areas. If workers only have to make the commute 2-3 times per week, they are more likely to live further away from their office.
- Inventory will grow. As the construction industry picks back up, so does the inventory of new homes. Especially as buyers move to less populated areas where there is much more potential for new homes to be built.
Connect with New Venture Escrow for Your 2022 Real Estate Transactions
You don’t have to tackle 2022 alone! While we may not know exactly what the future of real estate housing trends looks like, at New Venture Escrow we are here to help prepare and guide you for what’s to come. Get in touch with one of our expert agents today for help with buying or selling a home, refinancing, and other related industry services.
