Whether you’re planning to become a home buyer in 2018
or hoping to sell your current property, it can be hard to forecast the way the
real estate market will go. Here are some trend predictions, gathered from
several sources, which may dominate
in 2018:
A recent report from the Urban Land Institute and
PricewaterhouseCoopers brings good news: the usual boom-and-bust cycle isn’t
behaving typically, so what could have been a bust may be a gentle downturn
instead.
Smartcitiesdive.com, which highlighted elements of the
PWC/Urban Land Institute report, suggests the real estate industry has begun to
take an interest in a new generation.
This is not to detract from the importance of
millennials who, incidentally, are expected to become more interested in
purchasing a home in 2018 than in previous years. A new generation, “Gen Z,” is
indicating an even stronger interest in becoming homeowners at an earlier age
than their millennial counterparts. Born after 1995, Gen Zers are enthusiastic
about fixer-uppers and do-it-yourself projects and may lead the way in
gentrifying distressed urban neighborhoods.
The Internet of Things is changing everything, so why
not real estate? Smart home automation is driving the industry to incorporate
the latest tech in new home builds and attract tech-savvy buyers by focusing on
tech amenities in listings. The PWC/Urban Land Institute report suggests the
industry has been lagging behind, technologically speaking, so 2018 may well be
the year of the high-tech home.
Little is known yet about the economic and political
factors affecting the industry across North America.
Notes Smart Cities Dive: “A number of other changes
potentially arriving in 2018—such as tax reform and interest rate hikes—also
could affect the real estate market and cities’ development.
However, none of the known factors appear drastic
enough to derail the market’s long glide and instead send it into a nosedive.”
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