According to Zillow, home prices are predicted to fall 2-3% nationally this year. Home prices have only fallen one other time nationally – in 2008 during the recession. However, during that time there was a much more precipitous 27% drop in home prices. Zillow notes that it is basing its forecast on proprietary data and a baseline prediction of a 4.9% decrease in U.S. GDP in 2020 and a subsequent 5.7% increase in 2021.
Zillow also predicts a very fast 50-60% decline in the rate of home sales, which would bottom by the end of this spring and recover at a pace of about 10% each month through 2021. What this means is, real estate agents are saying that despite the difficulties due to the pandemic, there are overall signs of good demand for housing and that people are still listing their homes and booking showings. Agents are feeling optimistic about the selling season.
Svenja Gudell, Zillow’s chief economist, points out that evolving technology is helping make the buying and selling process so much easier in these challenging times. Take for example, our social media listing platform – we use a cloud-based, programmatic ad tech platform to deliver cost-effective results with automation on Facebook. It’s called ListingLogic and has had widespread success in Australia. Currently, it’s making a name for itself in the US. Wendy Shea, a Colorado-based Real Estate Broker, recently ran a trial on Facebook with us – and in just one week, she garnered over 13,000 views with over 7,000 social actions from just a video tour of the home. Her click-through for a single image Ad was 16.44% and had 24 leads.
Web traffic is up on real estate sites, and homebuilders are still seeing demand for their new builds. We may see a lag for the next several months but the supply for homes is low in comparison to demand. Much of course, will be dependent on the pace of economic recovery and the confidence levels of buyers and sellers. As we mentioned in a previous real estate blog post, millennials are snapping up homes at a rapid rate and real estate is traditionally a great way to invest. So, realtors, if you’re reading this, you’ll need help to come up with a quick way to get buyers and sellers together to make deals happen. Contact us today on how we can help boost your business on social media!