The 2021 Consumer Housing Trends Report from Zillow shed a bright light on just how much COVID-19 has played a role in changing the landscape of housing.
“It’s not you, it’s not personal, the housing market has nothing against you – it’s that everyone is feeling this shortage of inventory," says Zillow population scientist, Manny Garcia.
Garcia says the "scalding hot" market has shifted the housing market landscape and changed the perspective of many homeowner's wants and needs.
“We saw...unprecedented large divides between the young and old. Younger homeowners were more likely than ever to say that they were considering moving...and older homeowners, who represent a larger share in homeownership, were more likely to say that they did not have any plans.”
The data from the report shows that only:
- 21% of homeowners aged 40-49
- 10% of homeowners aged 50-60
- 8% of homeowners aged 70 and up
- say they have plans to move and sell their home in the next 3 years.
That means inventory is at an all-time low from older generations.
In contrast, Garcia says, "31% of homeowners under age 40 — collectively owning about 4 million homes nationwide — said they were considering selling within the next 3 years...that's significantly higher than 22% in 2020."
“Homeowners are staying put and a lot of that inventory is locked up," Garcia added, "and we’re not building enough homes to keep up with that demand.”
But it’s not all bad news – Garcia said the market does look like it may ease up slightly for buyers in the future.
“Zillow is still forecasting something like...home values continuing to rise nearly 15% within the next year. So when folks say 'more of a buyers market' – what they’re really saying is that it will be a tiny bit better than it was over the past few months.”