To help end the year on a high note, we’ve compiled a list of a few of our sunniest takeaways from how the residential real estate industry persevered in 2020.
The industry used tech to keep people connected.
While technology is often blamed for dividing individuals, 2020 saw great adoption of tech to keep people connected and engaged in positive, exciting new ways. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than within real estate. Given the industry’s strong emphasis on personal connections, COVID-19 presented great difficulties that could have hindered the industry’s valued role as a provider of expert real estate service with a personal touch.
Yet the industry rallied around technology with an unprecedented level of adoption of existing and new tools to continue providing a personal touch and keep business moving. Whether using a video platform like FaceTime or Zoom for face-to-face connections, or reacting positively to virtual showing technology like ShowingTime LIVE Video, the industry embraced tech with open arms to help minimize disruptions.
The industry saw a newfound appreciation for timely data.
Market data has always been a powerful tool for real estate, but 2020 marked a new high point for how data was leveraged to encourage informed decisions and to help real estate professionals reinforce their status as market experts. While interpreting data can seem overwhelming, the industry jumped at the opportunity to take advantage of new market data tools, like ShowingTime’s COVID-19 showing activity tracker, to get a true appreciation for how their markets were responding to the pandemic and to reduce client fears about its affect on their buying or selling goals.
Even existing data tools found a new audience in 2020 as agents looked to expand their understanding of the market. For example, the ShowingTime Showing Index® has provided a monthly look at showing traffic throughout the country for several years, becoming a reliable resource for taking the temperature of showing activity. But 2020 brought the activity tracker greater attention, serving as a resource for agents and media alike, exemplified by recent coverage in The New York Times.
The industry was nimble.
Few could have foreseen the events that transpired in 2020. Given their far-reaching affects the world over, the industry’s tremendous flexibility and rapid response to the pandemic are especially commendable. Beyond an eagerness to leverage new tech and data, real estate professionals quickly pivoted from their former ways of doing business to adapting their protocols to meet the new realities of business in 2020.
We’re proud to serve an industry that has shown great resilience and poise in meeting client needs throughout these unique times. Since the first signs of the pandemic became clear, we’ve committed all our efforts to supplying the industry with the tools, data and resources it needs to maintain the high level of customer service its members hold dear. As we look to 2021, we’ll have great reason to be optimistic that the industry will continue to show great strength in the face of any challenges that may arise. And as it does, we’ll be at its side to support it.
Greet the new year with a business plan designed to overcome any challenges that may arise in the year ahead. ShowingTime provides a suite of industry-leading time- and money-saving tools that agents, teams and offices have added to overcome the obstacles presented throughout 2020. To learn more about how ShowingTime can help you prepare for the year to come, contact our Sales team by clicking the button below.
