COVID-19 restrictions last year led to many seniors feeling cut off and unconnected as they sheltered in. Now, many senior living condo and apartment operators are using digital services to help keep their residents more connected. These digital tools and services aim to fight social isolation using a wide range of gadgets and techniques, such as video chat apps, virtual assistants, livestreamed fitness classes, and virtual reality day trips. Read more.
The pandemic is exacerbating a crisis for middle-income frontline workers searching for homes, according to a new study from the Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center for Housing. Read more.
Home remodeling has surged since the pandemic began, but many of the projects initially were smaller in scope. That is reversing as homeowners decide to go bigger with their renovation plans and beyond the DIY projects that dominated during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. Read more.
Builders are less confident about the outlook in new-home construction than in recent months due to a major surge in lumber prices and COVID-19 cases across the country. But buyer demand for new homes remains high nevertheless. Read more.
As people rethink how they use their homes, some design trends that were popular in recent years are quickly fading. For example, the open layout is becoming less trendy as homeowners favor more privacy. Apartment Therapy recently asked designers to chime in on which home decorating trends they think will fall out of style in the new year. Read more.
As the pandemic continues, more home buyers are looking for properties that can house their older family members. The goal for these buyers is to keep their aging family members out of senior living—particularly group setting facilities, which have been on heightened alert during the COVID-19 outbreak. This is translating to the desire for larger homes that can accommodate more family members, The Wall Street Journal reports. Read more.
Certain housing trends emerging from the pandemic likely will outlast the virus, real estate professionals predict. “The idea of what is necessary is changing,” Camille Thomas, a real estate professional in Jackson Hole, Wyo., told realtor.com®. “The home has become more than a living space.” Read more.
With low housing inventories and high buyer demand, home sellers are expected to continue to command higher home prices this winter—an unseasonable trend in the housing market. Read more.
Fast Company is calling patio propane heaters the “new toilet paper” of pandemic sales. That’s because heaters are flying off store shelves at record speeds as homeowners look to extend their outdoor spaces amid cooler weather in many locales. Read more.
As long as the proper health precautions are in place, seniors say, they are willing to resume home searches and purchases, a new report from John Burns Real Estate Consulting shows. Several age-qualified communities nationwide are reporting particularly strong home sales in August and September, the report says. Read more.
