Home buyers currently value virtual tours, and are moving to new locations to be closer to family or get away from COVID-19 hot spots. In terms of renovation, people are putting more focus on renovating bathrooms, especially in the master suite, and outdoor spaces. A detailed overview of home buying and renovation trends can be found below.

Home Buying

1. Virtual Tours

3D virtual tours are becoming more important to home buyers. These are not new, but more companies are using them in their real estate listings today.
Virtual tours are becoming more popular because they allow people to “tour” potential homes to narrow down the ones they must see in-person, which reduces the amount of foot traffic in the homes.
Traditional real estate companies (not online-only companies) are starting to implement virtual tours alongside their traditional services.
Buyers are actually using these tours much more often, with some companies reporting an increase of up to 160% of the use of virtual tours.
One survey found that 1 in 3 people would prefer to buy a home after only doing a virtual tour, instead of an in-person tour, even after the pandemic is over.
Zillow stated that 72% of real estate agents that they surveyed have seen so much success with virtual tours that they will continue to offer them after the pandemic.
Virtual tours have become the go-to tool for home buyers as a direct result of the pandemic because buyers worry about their safety when touring homes.

2. Relocating Due to COVID-19

Many people want to move closer to family during the pandemic.
In many US states, travel restrictions have made it hard to visit family, so people are considering moving closer to avoid that issue.
More people are moving to US states that have lower COVID-19 case numbers.
One example of this is Connecticut, which is the third most popular state for people to move to, due to their low case counts, with 20% of people buying homes there recently doing so specifically to get away from the virus.
Accordingly, people are also selling their homes and buying new ones elsewhere to move away from COVID-19 hotspots.
According to one survey, 37.5% of people who recently moved out of Washington DC and 16% of people who moved out of New York City did so because of the virus.

Home Renovation

1. Outdoor Space Renovation

Outdoor space renovation in the US is up by over 300% because people are looking to spend more time outside without leaving their home due to the virus.
One survey showed up to 54% of respondents were planning on doing an outdoor renovation during the pandemic.
Due to the cancellation of many sports, parents are looking to add pools or more outdoor space for athletic activities.
One survey showed that 26% of parents questioned said they want to add a pool during the pandemic.
Outdoor renovations are also currently safer, as they allow contractors to work out in the open air and not enter a customer’s home.

2. Bathroom Renovation

Bathroom renovations are increasingly popular, especially in states like West Virginia, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.
One study found that search engine queries for “bathroom” along with “DIY” have soared in recent months.
During the first six months of 2020, one study found that 46,530 people searched for information regarding bathroom renovations.
Bathrooms are also a big resell point, so people are choosing to spend their money renovating rooms that will gain them money in the future.
One survey found that 56% of people who were planning a bathroom remodel decided to continue with it despite the pandemic.
25% of people in the above survey said they planned to renovate their master bathroom in the near future after spending more time in it due to the pandemic.