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Industry and Societal Impacts Due to COVID
Engage Team • August 28, 2020
Working and living through a pandemic is new for all of us. In Hawaii, we are still navigating our new normal while planning for what lies ahead. COVID has impacted our own business as well as the lives of our agents, clients and partners. We asked our team for their perspectives on how they see COVID changing our way of life and the way the real estate industry may be affected.
COVID & Real Estate
- We’ll see more referral-based transactions whether it be buying, selling or renting of any products or properties. People will be cautious of the interaction they have with others so they will only work with those that they trust and all other transactions will be done strictly online.
- We will see a large increase in business closures and ultimately home foreclosures and short sales in the near future. This will be an unfortunate set of circumstances for some and a windfall for others. Realtors will be in high demand!
- The 10-year real estate cycle was way overdue, and we will likely see similar effects as we did during, and after, 2007-2009, but on a much larger and longer scale. It could be like the great depression, but in modern times.
- It will be interesting to see how the commercial real estate market adjusts as many retailers close their doors and the demand for office space drops.
- More owners and tenants will be more open to helping each other and will be more communicative, even when rent is sometimes a point of contention.
- People may be downsizing their lives to prepare for the uncertainty of future income. Moving from Single Family Homes to Townhouses and Townhouses to Apartments.
- Business will be dependent on virtual meetings. We will grow accustomed to online meetings while meeting in person will be a thing of the past.
- Many companies will realize the cost savings of having employees work from home as well as increased employee satisfaction with people having more flexibility in their day for family, hobbies, rest, etc.
- It’s possible that pay will become based on productivity and not just "time clocked in." This is already true for the "gig" sector. I think it may become true at large, especially if more are working from home. I think benefits will need to change to meet the work at home needs - computers, ink, paper, supplies, secure file sharing, etc.
- For any business to realize competitive advantages, it should be able to adapt and evolve to the changing trends for generations to come.
- The convenience and need for technology will rise, and most will continue using these types of businesses/services even after the pandemic passes because of the convenience, quality, and necessity for them.
- Business owners will start looking deeper at succession plans, and adjusting life and business choices around them. Those with influence and experience on the front lines will shift to creating ways to help others through teaching, writing, coaching, speaking, mentoring, and utilizing online and social media tools to do so.
- Use of communication apps (Zoom, Skype, etc) in order to be connected now, will become a more comfortable, convenient, safe, and effective means to remain connected for both work and family/friends. This opens many doors for entrepreneurship to thrive.
- People will be using technology to engage with businesses, and perform their jobs. This will accelerate the creation of new programs and technology to accommodate this fundamental shift.
- There is an opportunity for schools to move to providing curriculum and mentoring parents to educate their children, in addition to providing supplemental distance learning classes and in-person classes.
- Online shopping, its technology, and its abilities will continue to advance with greater demand than ever before.
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