The Hottest Trends for Real Estate Brokers in 2015
After years of being in the doldrums, the housing market has stabilized and continues to strengthen. According to most experts, the market is expected to gain momentum and remain strong for the next decade. As a result, many trends have emerged for 2015 that promise to make buyers and sellers happy.
Turnkey Homes
Real estate brokers across the United States have noticed a trend that has resulted in numerous buyers purchasing what are known as "turnkey" homes. These homes, which are small to medium-sized, offer buyers quality and luxury without having tremendous amounts of upkeep. They also tend to be close to downtowns, making it easier to commute back and forth to work. While there is currently a limited inventory of these homes available, brokers expect that to turn around in 2015.
Property Appreciations
Brokers also expect most properties will continue to appreciate in value throughout 2015, as the market will take most of the year to build up an adequate inventory that will allow prices to stabilize. While some brokers are afraid this may eventually create a bubble that will burst, others believe the amount of homes available will not allow this to happen.
Schools and Neighborhoods
More and more buying decisions in today's market are based on family considerations, such as schools and neighborhoods. As parents become more willing to have their children attend private or charter schools, brokers are emphasizing this aspect when marketing their properties. Many buyers are even willing to overpay for a property if it is located near a great school, so sellers are actively using this marketing tool to sometimes start bidding wars on their homes. Brokers expect this to continue until late 2015, and possibly even into the following year.
Seller's Market
With overall inventories across the U.S. being low, brokers realize real estate will be a seller's market for quite some time. As the average length of time properties stay on the market declines, sellers know they have something buyers desperately want and will hold out as long as possible to get the price they want for their property. However, with many properties being sold in less than a week in many cases, they don't have to hold out for very long.
As these trends dominate 2015, brokers realize business is good and will only get better as both buyers and sellers combine to make the market stronger and more vibrant.
Gennady Barsky is the CFO of JetSmarter and Real Estate Mogul. Barsky is a lover of all things automobile and has a passion for Social Media.