Good morning, if you think cryptocurrency is only good for buying virtual land in the metaverse, it is time for you to expand your mind.
Why? Because per Redfin data, almost 12% of American first-time homebuyers sold some sort of cryptocurrency to make their down payment in 2021. That's up from less than 5% in 2019.
Heck, there's now a crypto mortgage on the market too. Launched recently by a company called Milo, the program lets you leverage your crypto holdings (rather than sell them off) to buy a house or invest in real estate.
And guess what, Milo says there's already a long wait-list of homebuyers offering their crypto as collateral to secure a home loan.
😷↔1 metre↔😷
Q1, 2022: Top Housing Trends
Housing was beginning to recover from a 7 year itch since 2016, and just when it was chilling in the green, the pandemic played spoilsport.
H2, 2021 Changed That
As the second wave faded, consumer sentiment touched record highs and as a result, demand for housing saw an uptick.
Will Q1, 2022 be more of the same? What can you expect if you're hoping to buy, sell, or invest in real estate this month? Here's a quick look:
🔖 Home Prices Are Going Up: The biggest takeaway from 2021 is that home prices are on the rise -- and perhaps at a much quicker pace than analysts had expected. With a resurgent economy, an uptick in hiring and good performance from many core sectors, the demand for new homes is getting stronger than ever. And as construction costs (prices of cement, steel, tiles, fittings etc.) have risen significantly, an upward revision of between 10-30% in home prices is inevitable.
🔖 FOMO Will Boost Sales: While home prices are expected to increase steadily throughout 2022, many potential homebuyers may try to 'catch the bus' now before prices rise further. The fear of missing out -- or FOMO -- on low rates and the potential loss in delaying the purchase may supercharge the housing market in Q1, 2022.
🔖 Rents Are Going Up: It's not just buying a home that's getting more expensive. Rents are on the rise lately, too. With Omicron behaving, the work force is slowly getting back to the office, while the student economy is making a strong comeback, resulting in the demand for more rentals, translating into higher rents this quarter.
It Was All Yellow
Real Estate Investors Making China-India Shift
As Chinese real estate companies try and climb down from their penthouses of runaway debt, investors are finding more stable and compelling opportunities in other nations.
Per this report, many investors cite India among opportunities that are relatively insulated from the historic turmoil.
Murmur In Board Rooms
🎙 “Investors have been hiding in Indian investment-grade and high-yield credit, and other parts of Asia outside of China, as a means to reduce their exposure to China property," said Wai Mei Leong, a portfolio manager at Eastspring Investments.
Could Vacant Offices Fill The Affordable Housing Void
Due to affordable housing production lagging demand for decades, housing affordability has become the #1 challenge for mid and low income households throughout the world.
The Office Conversion Opportunity
Experts feel that when located in dense, highly walkable neighbourhoods that are close to work and urban amenities — like parks, markets, and schools — conversion from office to residential can be helpful in addressing the world’s affordable housing shortage.
If we can think of office conversions as a small answer to our affordable housing needs, and not a sole solution, there is no reason it can't work. But, there are pros and cons, per Forbes.
Conversion Yays
🔼 Demand for office space has taken a big hit and old office buildings in the downtown areas are probably never going to see optimum occupancy anytime soon. Converting them into small affordable housing units can make them viable again.
🔼 Conversion is the fastest way to provide affordable housing in an employment-rich location, which is where most aging office buildings are located.
🔼 Central business district (CBD) conversions are less likely to face local opposition than construction in established residential neighbourhoods.
🔼 Office to housing conversion can take advantage of existing infrastructure, (including water, electrical, broadband, sidewalks and fire hydrants, etc.), and crash project times significantly.
Conversion Nays
🔽 The biggest hurdle and the reason we have seen so little office to residential conversion – is because it can be crazily expensive to achieve.
🔽 Unpredictable construction challenges, unusual floor plans could mean higher costs, translating into higher rents killing affordability.
🔽 The lack of interest among commercial landlords to become residential owners, making sales necessary to achieve these conversions.
🔽 Conversion could trigger a plethora of difficult-to-navigate regulatory hurdles and land use conversion roadblocks.
Despite the nays, are building owners trying out such conversions even as you read this?
♻ Yes. In fact, one of the upcoming real estate trends, really – is adaptive reuse.
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🟡 Yellow dots in the map are lighthouses.
⛷ The upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing will be the first to rely completely on artificial snow for its ski and snowboard slopes. Why? Well, it never really snows in Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, the two sites set to host the events.
So China is using up to 2 million cubic meters of water (which could fill 800 Olympic-sized swimming pools) to create fake snow and provide athletes with optimal shredding conditions.
FYI, there are no mid-week breaks ahead. See you on Monday morning. 💚
☕ The Crew@Ginger Chai