The housing market has been unpredictable for years, with new trends and insights emerging almost monthly. For homebuyers and sellers, that means there’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to buying or selling a home.
And while there are many factors that impact the housing market on a local, regional and national level, it can be especially challenging to predict what will happen in 2022.
That being said, we think we have some good ideas of where the housing market will be in four years. In this blog post, we’ll take you through our top predictions for the housing market in 2022 and explain why we think this is the case.
Lead-Based Paint In Houses Will Be A Thing Of The Past
The last time housing inventory was this low was the early 1990s. At that time, over a million homes had lead-based paint.
Today, only about 200,000 homes have lead-based paint. While that’s a big improvement, the long-term health impacts of lead paint are still causing problems for many homeowners and their families.
In the early 1990s, many of the homes with lead paint were built as early as the 1920s or 1930s. These homes with lead paint have been around for decades and are still in good shape.
In 2022, we expect the percentage of homes with lead paint to drop even further thanks to the passage of the Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2021. This act will make it even easier for homeowners to remove lead paint from their homes.
Remote Working Will Become Even More Commonplace
While the ability to work remotely has been around for decades, it has become much more commonplace in recent years.
Thanks to technology such as internet-enabled smart devices, cloud-based software, video conferencing systems, and more, it’s easier than ever to work remotely.
And although there are certainly companies that allow remote work, there are many industries where working remotely is still more the exception than the rule.
We expect that to change in 2022. As more and more people work remotely, it will become harder and harder to find companies that insist their employees come into the office every day.
In fact, we expect the number of remote workers to increase dramatically in the coming years, leading to a change in the way many people work.
We’ll See A Rise In Fully Automated Homes
As technology continues to evolve and improve, it’s not a stretch to imagine a future where many aspects of daily life are fully automated.
When it comes to the housing market, we’re already seeing some signs of this in the form of fully automated smart homes.
In these fully automated smart homes, everything from the thermostat to light switches are operated by a centralized hub.
But while these homes are certainly impressive, the technology behind them is still pretty limited. In 2022, we expect to see a lot more fully automated homes thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence, voice recognition software, and more.
Home Prices Will Stay High, But More People Will Be Able To Own Homes
For years, rising home prices have kept many first-time homebuyers out of the market. That’s because even though incomes have gone up in recent years, home prices have also increased significantly.
As a result, many people who want to buy a home are having trouble saving up enough for a down payment. Fortunately, as the economy continues to improve, we’re seeing more people enter the housing market and buy homes.
While home prices are expected to continue to rise over the next several years, we’re also anticipating that more people will be able to buy homes thanks to programs such as the federal Homeownership Initiative.
A New Wave Of Technologies Will Change The Way We Live And Work
As technology evolves and new innovations are developed, they impact many aspects of daily life. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a new wave of technologies come online that are already having an impact on the housing market.
These include technologies such as internet-connected devices, new materials for building, 5G technology for wireless networks, and more.
While these technologies are still in the early stages of adoption, we’re expecting them to enter the mainstream over the next few years. As they do, they’ll have a significant impact on the housing market.
Much Greater Awareness About Climate Change
As more people become aware of and begin to understand the impacts of climate change, there’s also greater demand for new and sustainable building materials.
As a result, we’ve seen many different building materials start to become more commonplace as builders and homeowners look to become more sustainable.
This has had an impact on the housing market as builders have added these new materials to their tool kits. In 2022, we expect much greater awareness about climate change and these sustainable building materials to be even more commonplace.
This will have a significant impact on the housing market as builders and homeowners look to become more sustainable.
Millennials Will Continue To Be The Driving Force In The Market
For years, real estate experts have been predicting a change in the housing market as more Generation Xers and Baby Boomers begin to enter the market.
So far, that hasn’t happened – millennials still make up the vast majority of the housing market. And given the impact millennials have had on the housing market in recent years, we expect that to continue in 2022.
As more millennials enter the workforce and begin to earn more, we expect them to be an even bigger force in the housing market.
Millennials Will Finally Be Able To Jump Into Home Ownership
As mentioned, millennials have had a significant impact on the housing market in recent years. And while that’s been great for real estate agents and homebuilders, it hasn’t been so great for millennial homebuyers.
Over the past decade, millennials have had to deal with high home prices, low inventory, and rising interest rates. All of these have made it more difficult for millennials to climb onto the homeownership ladder.
As home prices continue to rise, interest rates climb ever higher, and inventory remains low, we expect it will become even more difficult for millennials to buy homes in 2022.
Conclusion
The housing market has been unpredictable for years, with new trends and insights emerging almost monthly. That being said, we think we have some good ideas of where the housing market will be in four years.
Lead-based paint in houses will be a thing of the past, remote working will become even more common, we’ll see a rise in fully automated homes, a new wave of technologies will change the way we live and work, and millennials will finally be able to jump into homeownership.
