The new normal took a toll on many different ways people lead lives, including their interaction with the real estate industry. Regardless of where people come from, they are concerned with how they want to live rather than how they must. These questions shape financial preferences, and the fact that is, moving forward, a lot of uncertainty floats around us.
Industry experts are trying to address the elephant in the room; will our homes be our new workspaces?
People and the new normal
With people adjusting to a new way of doing things for over a year now, it is hard to predict if these behavioral changes will return to pre-COVID times full fledge. People ask questions that make their chain of thought obvious; why not switch to shopping online permanently? Is switching to Southern areas viable to safely practice social distancing while hanging around outside all day?
We are all expecting answers that will change the course of history forever. Imagine the cancellation of dine-in culture if restaurants happen to be the main threat to our wellbeing. Will real estate offer housing downtown anymore? Although the pandemic started reducing the number of buyers seeking sellers and real estate agents providing property, Americans are now considering moving to warmer, more remote places to lead peaceful, secluded lives.
As people rediscover their homes in the wake of the pandemic, many realize that their accommodations are not work-friendly. Based on survey findings by realtors, people are looking to pursue quieter neighborhoods, bigger spaces, outdoor access (preferably for breaks), and home offices for a comfortable workspace. Sub-urban and metro areas are the need of the hour, even if some people do not explicitly realize this yet.
When the pandemic was much newer last year, people were less keen to sell their property and list their houses for physical viewings. However, on the contrary, online and social viewings have shown significant increases.
A brief history of the real estate industry
Considering the recent pandemic, the home sales seemed to have mimicked the number exhibited during the monetary crisis in 2007; they were at an all-time low for the first time in ages. Other similar factors that concerned people were financial speculation, political unrest, and economic turmoil that have been prevalent factors of distress during previous national and international catastrophes such as The Financial Crisis of 2007, The Dot.com Bubble Bursts, and The Great Recession.
After the 2007-09 financial crunch, many people stayed far away from owning houses or even wanting to own homes. Even though there was a supply of property in the real estate market, the demand significantly came down. The banks and other financial institutions selling the property ceased it from people who could not pay out for their property. Still, the property prices significantly decreased as the demand-supply scales work because of the low demand.
A current snapshot of the real estate industry
After initial drops in house sales and listings, mainstream and populated cities like New York and Detroit took major hits thanks to the pandemic. According to our research, they were buying and selling activities started growing by the mid of the year May 2020. As employment rates and economic levels are still unstable, housing and the real estate industry are still affected. However, the industry is slowly going back to normal.
Experts are still debating on how COVID is reshaping the real estate industry. They think that the home option will make employees move to residential locations much farther from their actual workplaces. People may or may not trade indoor luxuries such as swimming pools and theatres for outdoor, open spaces such as amusement parks, et cetera.
Last thoughts
As shown by historical disturbances in the real estate industry, experts have yet to decide whether the pandemic effects are permanent or reversible. Will work from home be the new way of life long after social distancing is history?
We may also get ready to enjoy working under the warm sun and moving to more open, suburban houses. Lifestyles are changing; who knows, we may as well be the ones shaping the new normal for ourselves?
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