2022 Trends in Real Estate

2021 was an undeniable sellers market. In June 2021, the national median home price hit $362,800—an all-time high for the US. Meanwhile, mortgage interest rates reached a historic low of 3.5%. Will the 2022 market continue to bend towards sellers? According to the National Association of Realtors, “strong employment growth, relatively affordable housing prices, and good infrastructure, including broadband access, will continue to drive the difference in local market housing conditions.” So, seems likely. Let’s take a look at the trends the industry is seeing and how Ribbon can help you be prepared in a truly unique market.

Trend: Driven by employment opportunities, the south and west markets will continue to grow.

In a survey done by PwC on top markets for 2022, 8 out of 10 were in the southern half of the United states. Cities like Nashville, Raleigh/Durham, Austin, Tampa, Charlotte, Dallas, and Atlanta are also seeing growth. “They are growing explosively. And they’ve shown impressive economic staying power even in a pandemic,” PwC reports.

Challenges: Hot markets can mean lots of buyers for not a lot of inventory. Not a lot of inventory means higher prices on available inventory. In 2022, it will be harder than ever to find homes in some of these major cities.

How Ribbon can help: Many of these markets are the ones we have teams of experts in! We work with real estate agents, and their buyers, in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. By turning offers into RibbonCash (with no contingencies!) we’re able to help buyers go up against all-cash offers from large investment companies who are buying up large amounts of real estate in these areas and pushing up housing prices.

Trend: The affordable housing crisis looms for many.

Unfortunately, the affordable housing crisis is not new. It’s a trend we’ve seen for almost the last five years. It’s why we built Ribbon in the first place. It remains top of mind for agents and for worthy buyers. Even with the brief recession of 2021, homeowners and renters saw little relief. Prices and rents have zoomed past wage gains, and are now at the highest rates ever tracked. The Economic Impact Payment checks and supplemental unemployment payments helped keep Americans in homes but help is needed at every level—national government, local government, and private sector.

Challenges: Worthy homebuyers are being priced out as home prices soar. Meanwhile, affordable housing production has fallen short and housing inventory remains critically low.

How Ribbon can help: Ribbon was created to help make housing achievable for all. Ribbon can strengthen financing terms by upgrading FHA/VA/USDA loans and conventional financing terms to cash—which is 3x more likely to win. We’ll even reserve the home for you and sell it back to you for the same price. You can move in right away and get the time and flexibility you need to secure financing.

Trend: Builders are working through their backlogs

According to Robert Dietz, the Chief Economist at the National Association of Home Builders,“it’s taking longer to build, and it’s costing more” to build residential homes. Builders’ supplies are seeing an increase of almost 19% year-over-year. Meanwhile, the labor shortages of 2021 continue. The good news is that, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, “Home builders will have more success overcoming current building material shortages [in 2022] and should be able to increase the pace of construction to meet the sizable demand for buying,”

Challenges: New builds are hyper competitive now as availability dwindles, schedules shift, and

How Ribbon can help: RibbonCash works on new construction. A builder unwilling to accept an offer contingent upon the sale of your existing home? We’ll remove that contingency. No more double moves. We’ll also guarantee a closing date so builders can work toward a real date. More certainty for every member of “Team Dream House.”

Trend: Ribbon is here to help.

These are just a few of the trends we’re seeing emerge in 2022 across the US. We’ll cover lots of them throughout the year. The good news is that whether you’re looking to move from renting to buying or are hoping to sell so that you can buy, Ribbon is here to help make it a reality.