Trends in residential real estate usually follow societal changes. A few decades ago, economic development highlighted the value of moving to the city. Then pollution and environmental issues came along, and people started heading back to their hometowns. As for today, it can be best described as a combination of both.
Having said that, here are three key trends to consider.
High-Rise Affordability and Convenience
If you have ever been to the Japanese city of Tokyo, you are probably familiar with the Akasaka district, arguably one of the best, most luxurious places to live in town. And inside Akasaka, there is a building called Tokyo Midtown, a mixed-use development of more than 550,000 square meters. Along with office space, the towering structure is home to residential apartments, a hotel, a wide variety of leisure and exercise facilities, a long list of high-end shops and restaurants, and even the headquarters of the Suntory Museum of Art. For those with the money to afford one of its multi-million dollar condominiums, chances are you will run into a few Japanese and foreign celebrities, athletes, and politicians who also call this amazing place home.
Tokyo Midtown does not target regular folks like you and me. Instead, they cater to the elite, people with sufficient financial resources but lacking time to travel far and needing the privacy to satisfy their shopping needs at the comfort of their own homes.
But this is slowly changing in many developed metropolises across the globe. Today, real estate and construction enterprises use the latest and most advanced building technology and industrial crane services to erect multi-functional, high-rise facilities at twice the speed and half the cost. As a result, mid to high-income households can now afford the convenience of living in an apartment building where all they need to do is go up or down a few floors to get whatever they need.
Different Strokes for Different Folks
There are many ways to find the house or apartment of your dreams. First, you could look at the listings in your daily newspaper or magazine. Second, you could reach out to your personal and business networks and see if they know somebody selling something you might like. Third, you could visit a real estate company or look at their corporate website. Finally, you could make use of one of the wide variety of home-hunting apps currently available in the market.
A quarter into the 21st century, finding the perfect house is easier than perhaps at any other time in our history. It is true regardless of what you are looking for or how specific this might be. Do you need a two-story house overlooking the mountains with a three-car garage and a personal fitness center? Are you looking for an apartment downtown in a building connected to a train station and less than five minutes away from a kids’ hospital or shopping district? If so, the answer is simply a click of a button away. As long as you have a stable internet connection, when it comes to finding a home, nothing is too big, too strange, or too particular, and you can find anything you need.
The same is true for mortgages. Currently, private and public banks, other financial institutions, and individual corporate lenders are offering a wide range of options based on your budget, financial standing, and expectations.
Second Tier Cities and the Suburban Boom
When we think about tier one American cities, the first names that come to mind are New York City and Los Angeles. After all, these are enormous places where you can pretty much find anything you need as it pertains to education, employment, entertainment, and everything in between. As for second-tier locales, these are places that are smaller in geographical size and population but provide most of the conveniences of their larger counterparts. Examples include Tampa, Florida in the Southeast, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania near the Atlantic, Austin, Texas in the Southwest, and Cincinnati, Ohio in the Midwest.
While in the past, moving to the Big Apple or Lala Land was everybody’s dream, things at present are not the same as they used to be. Rather, as smaller cities develop, many people, whether single or married, with or without children, are beginning to realize the benefits that come with fewer people, less congestion, and lower levels of competition in job hunting.
Likewise, more and more individuals are leaving downtown areas and moving to the suburbs. Even if they have to get up a bit earlier in the morning and travel a little longer in their daily commutes, the advantages of living in the suburbs far outweigh the drawback of time.
As we have seen, there are three important trends in residential real estate today. Not only do they influence our purchasing decisions, but also the places we live in and the level of convenience we expect from them.
