During this week’s Real Estate Roundup, Steve spoke with Terry Story, 31-year veteran at Keller Williams, about the future of the real estate industry. Last week, Steve and Terry spoke about predictions realtors had made for the industry a decade ago. This week, they talked about the predictions realtors are making for the upcoming decade.

Condos And Townhomes On The Rise

One of the first predictions the realtors made for the next ten years is that “condos and townhomes will become more desirable than single-family homes, primarily because they’re less time-consuming in terms of upkeep and maintenance,” as Steve relayed.

This prediction is related to millennial buyers, who are looking for homes that are move-in ready and easy to take care of. They’re not interested in doing major renovations.

Boomers—those who are in their 60s and up—are largely aging at home. They’re not downsizing, selling their homes in order to move into retirement communities. This means housing inventory is down, but, as Steve and Terry have discussed in recent weeks, new construction is on the rise. According to the experts, condos and townhomes is the wave of the future.

Increasing Use Of Technology

Technology is already in every part of our lives, and realtors predict that technology will play an increasingly bigger role in the housing industry. The rise of online home-selling apps is particularly heralded, along with the increased use of social media to help sell homes.

Technology is also predicted to have a more significant presence within homes themselves. Smart homes, ones completely connected to and controlled by technology, are growing in popularity, particularly among younger homebuyers. Along with wanting move-in ready homes with low maintenance, millennials also want the convenience of being able to talk to their homes and use technology to make their daily lives easier.

Terry’s not so sure about being on board with all that. She said, “I don’t care for talking to a device that’s going to turn on my lights. I like to get up and turn on my own lights. Plus, I’m a little freaked out about who’s listening.”

Sustainability, Access, And Amenities

The real estate industry is predicted to move in the direction of more sustainable homes with “socially conscious business practices being a much more important part of the real estate equation,” Steve noted. This has already started with the smallest of things: people are switching to LED lightbulbs, which are far more economical and use much less electricity (up to 75% less) and last much longer than traditional incandescent bulbs.

People more and more want to live in areas that offer easy access to certain amenities and conveniences. For that reason, mass transit, like the Brightline rail system in Florida, which is rapidly expanding its service areas, is predicted to be increasingly important. Having access to good mass transportation means people can still choose to live in Boca Raton but be able to easily zip down to Miami. Terry commented that she’s hearing more people saying things like, “Listen, I don’t have to go to Miami that often, but when I do, I now know I can just hop on the Brightline.” (Boca Raton is being fast-tracked as a new Brightline station.) Steve is apparently one of the converts to using mass transit. He said, “Well, previously I never would have taken a train down to Miami, but now we’re considering doing that because the train’s nice, it seems like fun, and the connections are pretty good from what I understand.”

People want what they want and what homebuyers are predicted to want more of in the future is the convenience of having all their desired amenities at their fingertips. Steve rattled off a partial list: “They want dog runs, they want roof decks, they want work-friendly spaces.” Terry said that she’s seeing more people who are willing to live farther out from major cities and commute if they can get into a housing community that gives them what they’re looking for in the way of amenities. And builders and developers are taking notice.

The Silver Tsunami

There’s also a prediction for a wave of sales being referred to as the “Silver Tsunami.” This is when some 77 million baby boomers will finally start selling their homes, either to downsize or to move into retirement facilities. Zillow researchers report that “Nine million of these baby boomer homes will hit the market between 2017 and 2027.”

Steve and Terry both noted that that should solve the low housing market inventory problem. And with boomers both buying and selling, Steve mentioned reading that, “By roughly 2037, 21 million homes will have been sold as a result of the baby boomers.”

The End Of Paper Sales

Finally, one of the most likely predictions involves “the transition of the real estate industry from a manual, paper-laden process to an end-to-end digital experience within the next ten years,” which Steve quoted from the real estate predictions report. Eventually, the entire process of buying and selling a home will be paperless.

Wrapping up the Roundup, Steve quipped, “I think eventually renters will be able to lease an apartment in a matter of minutes just by filling out a few questions and snapping a selfie that will enable an algorithm to quickly build and vet their application in real-time.”

To learn more about buying or selling a home, or connect with Terry, go to Keller Williams!