Bright times ahead

How will the real estate market perform in the coming months? And who’s buying what?

IN MARCH 2020, the world was hit head-on with the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries shut their borders, and their residents inside, and life for at least a year was a stop/start pattern of lockdowns, anxiety, and uncertainty. The word “unprecedented” figured regularly in everyone’s conversations.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, however, and not everything described as unprecedented was bad news. “The last three years were unprecedented in terms of luxury home sales,” says Mike Golden, co-founder and co-CEO of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate. “But we’re entering a period now that may be even better in terms of stability and sustainability. Granted, the cost of money has increased, but a number of other factors point to a positive trend. One long-term effect of the pandemic is that it refocused people’s attention on real estate.”

“There is a more rational approach in the marketplace,” adds Thad Wong, co-founder and co-CEO of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate. “We’re really encouraged by the level of activity we’re seeing this spring. There were a lot of people predicting disaster in 2023, and we haven’t seen anything close to that.”

From ‘red hot’ 2022, to ‘hot’ 2023 While some markets may have cooled over the past year—the Caribbean, for example, where Nick Vanassche, partner at Christie’s International Real Estate | U.S. Virgin Islands, believes this year’s sales will more closely resemble those of 2019/2020— they are still buoyant. “Frenzy,” is Ryon Brewer’s word to describe the 2022 market in Montana. The PureWest Real Estate president says the western state and its outdoor lifestyle have long been sought after by those wanting a change from urban pressures. But he says: “COVID-19 multiplied that effect, and the resulting sales surge was like nothing we’ve ever seen before. That frenzy has now cooled, and luxury buyers have returned to a more balanced approach to acquisition.