COGNITION Hot Take: Notable Housing Market Trends

Three housing market trends—access to capital, diversified portfolios, and enhanced virtual sales—offer insights into the sector’s strength as we shift into a new year.

According to COGNITION Smart Data, Green Builder Media’s suite of market intelligence services, builders are accessing more capital, diversifying their portfolios, and expanding their sales capacity by leveraging online tools—all of which are driving the continued success of the housing market.

Access to Capital

Many builders are seeking larger lines of credit, increased facilities, and more equity to bolster business growth. The good news: these loans are generally based on pre-sales and existing pipelines rather than speculative projects, reducing risk for lenders and allowing borrowers to access lower-cost capital.  

Furthermore, builders and developers are completing projects and paying down loans on time, putting them in a strong position to access more capital into 2021.

Diversified Portfolios

To meet surging consumer demand, builders and developers are expanding their product offering to include:

•       Townhomes with lower price points
•       Built-to-rent communities
•       Amenity-based communities (featuring conveniences like walking trails, community gardens, and shared working spaces)

Virtual Sales 

To expand their sales reach, builders are leveraging online tools like never before, resulting in an unprecedented number of virtual transactions. 

According to the National Association of Realtors:

•       24% of people are now willing to buy a home without seeing it in person.
•       21% of people agree that COVID-19 has made them more likely to move into a home sight unseen.
•       94% of prospective buyers use technology to search and select their new builder, and 89% of those prospects expect to continue using technology throughout the construction process.
•       44% of today’s homebuyers want proactive notifications and 72% expect updated information throughout the entire home-purchasing process.

For more information about housing market trends, sign up for a COGNITION subscription.

COGNITION Smart Data offers advanced intelligence and insights about market trends and important customer information like behavioral patterns, purchase drivers, buying preferences and sentiment.  COGNITION enables clients to make informed business decisions, yielding specific deliverables and tangible results.  COGNITION provides a definitive competitive advantage by allowing companies to stay a step ahead of their competitors.

For more information on how you can tap into the power of COGNITION Smart Data, visit www.greenbuildermedia.com/cognition or contact Sara Gutterman at sara.gutterman@greenbuildermedia.com.