There’s no getting around it; what we’re living through is one for the history books. When we finally come to the end of the dark tunnel called COVID, there will be changes to our lifestyle in ways we never imagined. The real estate market is changing too, and one of the leading voices on real estate in the country recently gave an interview that I was fortunate to see.
You might know Barbara Corcoran from the popular TV show, “Shark Tank,” but before she was known nationally, Corcoran started and ran one of the best high-end real estate companies in New York City, The Hamptons and Southeast Florida. Her story of creating Corcoran in the early 1970s is a master class in becoming an entrepreneur through hard work and natural ability; that’s why when Barbara Corcoran talks about real estate, we should all pay attention.
When asked about the future of homeownership in America and how the pandemic will change that, she was very clear – it won’t. Homeownership is the lifeblood of our economy and personal lives; it is essential for communities to thrive and support education and is the primary way for average Americans to build equity and fund retirement. She also thinks that Realtors will not be phased out and replaced exclusively by online business since real estate sales is still dependent on human-to-human contact.
She went on to say that all residential real estate purchases have an element of emotion, and with what is going on now, the emotions are building to an even higher level. After being locked down for months, homeowners are starting to see flaws in their homes they never noticed before, whether it’s the workable flow of the home, the age of the home or the size of the home. This is resulting in homeowners looking for a change they never knew they wanted.
As I’ve stated since the pandemic began, there is a shortage of inventory and what looks to be a national trend of increasing values with the exception of some of the big cities. Some of this activity may be fueled by this feeling of change that families are looking for, resulting in a robust real estate market, surprising many economists.
Her analysis of the commercial real estate market, particularly in big cities, is not quite so positive. In fact, she states that the combination of employees working from home and the high cost of living and working in big cities is making employers rethink the level of office space they actually need. We already have seen several big companies and government workers being offered the ability to permanently work from home and we can anticipate this to continue.
Again, this can only be good news for the state of Florida. As we have recently seen, there is a large number of out-of-state people looking to relocate permanently to Florida or at least purchase properties here, escaping large congested cities. When Barbara Corcoran was asked a question about Florida real estate on the east coast, she said since the east coast of Florida is almost built out, the inevitable result will be prices increasing. All you need to do is take a look around Manatee County and all the new construction going up or in the planning stages to understand this is an ongoing trend on our coast as well.
Finally, since she is a New Yorker and is bullish on the city, she does think it will eventually return – museums, restaurants and the arts will always entice people. I hope she’s right and I hope that New York City’s future attracts more permanent residents than tourists; we already have enough of that right here. Stay safe.
