This month, Mobility News has been focusing on North American real estate trends. We reached out to a member of the WERC Emerging Leaders Taskforce, Anthony Hughes CRP, GMS-T, account manager at Rocket Mortgage, to hear his thoughts.
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What current real estate trends are affecting mobility in North America, and how are companies adapting?
When looking at the “challenges” that we are currently facing within the real estate market in North America, I also like to look at it through the lens of opportunity. Sure, we have high interest rates, high home values, and a shortage of homes on the market, but all of these are factors that are also causing there to be fewer buyers on the market right now. So, something that I am discussing with my clients and partners is that if you can enter the market, now is a great time to buy because you have less competition, and all the preferred lenders within the relocation space are offering reduced or free refinances once rates drop. Why wouldn’t anyone want to take advantage of a “less hectic” market?
How can relocation programs better support renters and buyers in today’s competitive real estate environment?
Many companies have done benchmarking and policy reviews to determine whether to implement additional support through sliding scales, offering discount points, or mortgage subsidies. This is something that our team has actively been running cost analysis for many of our corporate and relocation management company partners for the last few years; having this sort of support from your preferred lending partner is key when working with leadership to implement those policy enhancements. Every program is different, so companies need to determine what they are looking to accomplish with these enhancements before fully committing and then be willing to review as this market continues to adjust over the next couple of years.