3 Key Real Estate Projections and Observations to Know From a Recent Zillow Survey

A recent survey conducted by Zillow offers important housing market projections for this year, and hindsight on 2020. Below, we’ve summarized three key points you should know.

New Homebuyers This Year

Zillow believes approximately 2.5 million new households will enter the fray in search of their dream home this year.

According to Zillow almost 80 percent of movers in 2020 said their change in zip code was the correct decision, and about 60 percent said it resulted in positive life events—such as a bigger home, a less expensive mortgage, and new life experiences in a different city and state. This factors into why Zillow believes that about 2.5 million new households will enter the market in 2021.

Homebuyers Moving to the South

House hunters who were able to work from home in 2020, especially millennial first-time buyers, moved to affordable metro areas in the South. 

Zillow senior economist Jeff Tucker said, “More affordable, medium-sized metro areas across the Sun Belt saw significantly more people coming than going—especially from more expensive, larger cities farther north and on the coasts. The pandemic has catalyzed purchases by millennial first-time buyers, many of whom can now work from anywhere.”

(As you know, Paces Funding services the Southeast, including the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and Nashville).

Using Real Estate Technology

Virtual home tours aren’t just a pandemic-era convenience that will eventually fade away as society adjusts to a new normal. Real estate tech of this nature is here to stay.

The rapid development and implementation of real estate technology was critically important over the past year, and buyers and sellers will continue to rely on it. About 80 percent of survey participants said they would view a virtual home tour and a digital floor plan if they were shopping for a home.

Properties on Zillow’s 3D Home Tour platform were saved by buyers 32 percent more than homes not on the platform, and received an average of 29 percent more views than listings without the benefit of the 3D technology.

Online real estate has permeated all aspects of the industry, including appraisals, closings, and underwriting processes.