As Redfin jumps back into iBuying, their CEO, Glenn Kelman, spoke with MarketWatch about his predictions for the future of real estate, the vacation rental industry, and iBuying.
Redfin’s technology offerings continue to help them weather the coronavirus pandemic storm and, while it appears that Americans are re-entering the housing market, it’s unclear how long it will take to fully bounce back.
With inventory down 25% year-over-year, and home-buying demand almost back to pre-pandemic levels, Redfin believes that now is a good time to get back to home buying. Their plans to mitigate risk include lowering the amount that they’re willing to pay for a house and taking on fewer long term projects.
Secondary markets like AirBnB are expected to have tough times coming.
“There’s a whole economy that was built around the liquidity there that Airbnb provided. You could get pretty deep into debt and still have somebody pay your mortgage every month because Airbnb and other travel websites were so good at finding someone to rent it out.”
– Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin.
The company sees an opportunity to purchase beachfront and vacation homes from Airbnb owners seeking to sell their properties.
One reason is that the COVID-19 shutdown has affected service industry workers more than those in white-collar jobs. That class has been largely unaffected and sees this as an opportune time to purchase properties they otherwise would not be able to afford.
“It used to be that working class folks could reasonably aspire to buy a house. And now I think buying a house has really become a privilege.” – Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin
Kelman also anticipates a big move from the big cities to smaller cities and communities as a result of the pandemic.