How Will the COVID-19 Vaccine Impact the Real Estate Market in 2021
The world is placing quite a lot of hope in the various vaccinations that have rolled out recently to combat the
COVID-19 pandemic. The advances in science and the rigorous testing have all revealed that the vaccination effort can have major impacts on the world’s return to normalcy. That being said, vaccinating billions of people takes time and the virus has proven unpredictable already, so what can we expect in the real estate market?
HomeLight talked to some of the country’s top real estate agents in late 2020 to find out what they see as the major impacts of a COVID-19 vaccination effort will be on the housing market. Here’s what they found.
More Options for In-Person Open Houses and Showings
One of the most helpful elements of a vaccine roll-out will be more safe options for in-person open houses and showings. While masks and social distancing may become more prevalent, the likelihood of home owners to be interested in selling goes up when they can bring people in to see the house in-person. Many have delayed entering the market in the Chicago area for fear that getting only virtual-open-house viewings will result in fewer offers and a lower sale price. These increased options will hopefully encourage more sellers to jump in, which will reduce the issues of low inventory that have plagued 2020.
A Settling of the Work-From-Home Market
As more companies can safely return to the office, the market is likely to settle into a “new normal” for
work-from-home efforts. Many companies have realized they can reduce expenses while getting good results from their staff with remote work, so they may allow it to continue indefinitely even after the vaccine rollout expands. The housing market has skewed toward larger, less urban homes in the past year, partially to have more space for people to spend lots of time at home, and this demand is likely to persist in some respects as employers make remote work options permanent. That being said, some people will joyfully return to the office, and in doing so may return to smaller, more urban homes that are well-located for a commute.
Return to In-Person School Reduces Some Space Needs
Similarly, as more school districts bring students back to in-person schooling full-time, the need for home classrooms and e-learning environments goes down. The real estate market may have seen some temporary swell in the interest in larger homes or homes with more bedrooms that could become home classrooms, but the presence of an effective COVID-19 vaccine means that this demand is likely to slacken. That being said, many people find that it continues to be nice to have extra space at home, so that doesn’t necessarily mean people will stop enjoying larger homes; there will just be less unusual demand for them.
Continued Seller’s Market In Spite of Market Flexibility
The vaccine rollout and the down-trend in cases and coronavirus spread is likely to calm markets quite a bit, but low inventory and continued low interest rates are likely to keep the market firmly in the seller’s side for a while. There are hopeful signs that inventory will rise, according to
real estate agents, but the delayed effects of a very strange 2020 in the housing market seem to indicate that there will continue to be more-than-average bidding wars for desirable properties for a while yet.