Some of the reasons for this is the predicted rise in employment, the forecast that many Millennials will look to start buying property and the suggestion that foreign investment properties are still going to be in demand (perhaps even more so). But it doesn’t end there, some of the trends expected for 2017 make the future for your real estate business look not only promising but immensely exciting. Here’s a broad overview of a few of these forecasted trends for 2017:
Technological trends
By now, it shouldn’t be a secret that if your real estate business is not on top of technological trends, you run the very real (and serious risk ) of becoming obsolete. Technology has become such an intrinsic part of our day-to-day lives (personally and professionally) and the advancements in technology are too valuable to ignore. The truth is, technology has totally transformed the way people buy.
Buyers are far more in the know than ever before, and they can do their research and make enquiries on the go, as well as take advantage of handy real estate industry apps (such as Zoopla). And because of this, it has changed the way agents market themselves, stay organised and sell. But, the challenge for you and your real estate business is in this world of online connection, is not to lose the personal touch.
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Millennial-centered trends
With the growth of the Millennial buying market, quite an interesting trend potentially in store for your real estate business in 2017 is to cater for Millennial-centered trends. There have been a lot of generalisations about Millennials and instead of focusing on these, it’s important to fully understand what it is that they want when trying to draw them in as buyers. What is interesting about the Millennials as opposed to previous generations, is that they don’t follow the typical pattern of; graduate, get a job, get married and buy a house.
Many of them want to travel as much as possible and are quite satisfied to rent – giving them the chance to live wherever they desire. They also tend to want to live in the city, and instead of spending money on a house and a mortgage, many of them would prefer to focus on starting their own business. But this doesn’t mean that they are not looking to buy at all, because as they grow older they will want to settle down a little bit more. It’s your job to really get to know what they want and where, so when they are ready to buy, you have what they are looking for.
Green trends
The world is in an interesting place and whether you believe in global warming or not, I think one thing is obvious: the world is changing. Climate change is real and the future of the planet is actually uncertain. So, while at one stage ‘going green’ could have been perceived to be seen as a mere trend, now it actually surpasses that. It’s a necessity. How does that affect your real estate business? Well into the future the green trend could lead to cheaper, more eco-friendly and healthier buildings.
Image Credit: Myfancyhouse.com
As people become more and more aware of the need to go green, those properties will become seriously in demand. The green movement also has the potential to dictate which areas you want to make sure you have properties in, because people will want to be able to walk or cycle to places nearby, and areas with easily accessible public transport will probably be immensely popular. We will only know for sure into the future, but these are things you need to start thinking about. Take my word for it, this is a trend you want to make sure you are on top of.
Owning international property portfolios
Another trend that is not necessarily new, but still on the rise is people looking at foreign investment properties. With an incredibly unstable world economy after everything that happened in 2016, people are looking to spread their investment risk to other economies (with different currencies) – to avoid the whole egg in one basket scenario.
But that’s not the only reason. For those who can, there’s nothing quite like buying an investment property abroad for lifestyle reasons – many Britons choosing a lovely spot in the sun along the Mediterranean coast. You just need to know what both types of buyers are looking for; high returns and low risk, and their own small piece of paradise in a location they love. Don’t underestimate the power of having prime foreign properties in your real estate business’s portfolio as you move into 2017!
