New season, new market updates! The Agency’s latest ShaRE event gave attendees a timely overview of the fall real estate market. Our esteemed panelists touched on several prescient topics, from the latest housing trends and market shifts that will influence buyer decisions to discussions on what could lie ahead.
Sponsored by Agencia Insurance Solutions, Powered by Bubble, the panel was moderated by Jim Dalrymple II, a reporter from Inman and featured Mike Schwartz, SVP of The Agency; Billy Rose, Co-Founder & Chief Culture Officer of The Agency and Avi Gupta, Founder and CEO of Agencia Insurance Solutions.
Key Topics & Takeaways
Among the top discussion points: how the present market compares to recent times, what to know about today’s housing inventory, updates on buyer sentiments, emerging market challenges and how various global and local factors are affecting overall market momentum.
Low Supply, High Demand
Throughout the nation, home prices are accelerating due in part to the fact that there are more buyers than sellers in the marketplace. Panelists mentioned that, at the moment, there were only about 600,000 homes available to buy in the U.S., a figure far lower than the number of folks interested in buying.
Renters Outnumber Homeowners in Some Large Markets
Populations in desirable markets like California are now, for the first time, majority renters. This shift has impacted local legislation and the taxing of property owners. As people’s perception of their ability to become a homeowner changes—or they feel priced out—panelists agreed that the ramifications could continue in the form of political measures that protect renters and potentially tax homeowners more.
Measured Moves: How Buyers Are Making Decisions
In addition to lower inventory, buyers are having to be analytical and decisive about where they want to purchase property.
“What’s different is not the ability to purchase, it’s where you can purchase,” noted Schwartz. “In many ways the ability for folks to buy where they want to buy geographically has drastically altered. There are homes available in the U.S. to purchase, but they may not be where you want them.” Factors like proximity to family, access to nature, city centers, schools and amenities further narrow buyers’ home searches.
In the luxury space, clients—depending on their access to cash—end up making lateral moves instead of upgrading. “Compared to the 2018 and 2019 markets, the metric that is the most different today is price,” says Rose, who explained how home prices have steadily risen post COVID, and it’s not especially clear if this the “new normal” or if we might see more equilibrium in supply and demand in the near future.
The Benefits of Homeownership
Though buyers face low inventory and mortgage rate challenges, panelists agreed that people’s desire to buy and own property will likely remain steady in the coming months.
“The last year has proven that real estate is one of the most phenomenal investments anyone could engage in, period.” says Schwartz, who calls out the fact that a recession has not appeared, though it had been feared earlier in the year.
Don’t miss our next ShaRE panel event, “Elevate Your Listing Presentation: Expert Insights with The Agency’s Jason Binab,” slated for Wednesday, October 11th at 10:00 AM PST/1:00 PM EST. Register here.
