More Consumers Report Pandemic Accelerated Buying, Selling Decisions

Have your clients’ selling or buying plans been affected by the pandemic?

Now that we are a year into the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., more than half of respondents in a recent Improve Net survey said that their moving and/or buying plans have been impacted in the last year due to the pandemic.

For 36% of residents, they said they didn’t plan to move and are now moving, or their prior plans for moving have sped up. Likewise, 30% of respondents said that they have decided to buy suddenly or their plans for buying were accelerated due to the pandemic. And more than half (54%) of millennials and Generation Z said they feel more driven than ever before to become homeowners thanks to the pandemic. However, 72% of millennials and Generation Z members said their savings for a down payment have been negatively impacted by the pandemic, which will most likely delay their path to homeownership.

Another thing the pandemic has impacted is the type of home and location of home they are looking for, 52% of people said. Millennials and Generation Z reported that they are now prioritizing access to nature (74%), proximity to family (70%), indoor space (70%) and outdoor space (65%). For current homeowners, it is no surprise that their wants for their current home have been impacted by spending more time there. They said they wished their current home had better space for exercise (64%), better space for hobbies (62%), better space for cooking (59%) and better space for working remotely (57%).