Prospective Houston homebuyers who have held fire during the pandemic emergency might be encouraged by some signs emanating from Wall Street. Although the news was narrowly focused on a vacation area phenomenon, it might signal early stirrings that could have local ramifications.
The news came from Marketwatch, the financial information website operated by Dow Jones & Company. Last week it described some early signs of activity from corporate real estate titans. At first blush, the details might have seemed to be negative: they dealt with Airbnb owners reportedly in a “rush to offload their homes.” The investors had counted on companies like Airbnb to continue to attract renters to their vacation area rental properties. Although only temporary, pandemic stay-at-home strictures were throwing a 10-ton monkey wrench into the travel industry. As for Airbnb, the dislocations were “disrupting the disrupter” to such an extent that cash flow shortfalls were prompting some of their host customers to sell.
But the balance of the Marketwatch account wasn’t actually focused on them—it dealt with the major corporate buying entities who were now poised to swoop in to buy. Companies like Zillow, Redfin, and Opendoor have what are called “iBuying” arms. iBuyers use automated valuation model technology to make instant offers, usually all-cash—often for amounts below what a traditional real estate offering might bring.
That vacation area scenario may an early signal for prospective Houston homebuyers—especially those who remember watching “the big boys” step in at the bottom of the Great Recession to scoop up massive numbers of properties for later sale. The current Houston market is not at all similarly distressed—yet, even so, when institutional buyers begin to see future profits, it could be a sign worth noting. If corporate America is now gauging the market and seeing an opportunity, it could constitute their acknowledgment of what Marketwatch calls “the large number of people who have been trying to buy a house for two, three, four years”—but who have yet to find the right value/price combination.
For prospective buyers, the rumblings from Wall Street might prompt taking a second look at today’s Houston offerings. If so, give Rinnovare Realty, LLC a call at (832) 445-4957 a call!