Survey: U.S. investors are bullish about real estate

U.S. real estate investors say they’re optimistic about the state of the housing market, even though the nation is now in recession due to the coronavirus pandemic.

LendingHome, a resource for real estate investors including home flippers, landlords and investment mortgage brokers, found in its latest survey that 80% of respondents believe the impact of COVID-19 will be limited. Indeed, another 42% say they expect the pandemic will only affect their business for the next one to six months, while 12% said it won’t impact them at all.

Moreover, 57% of investors said their overall feelings about real estate investing during the pandemic were positive, LendingTree said.

“There was more optimism than we expected, and we were a bit surprised,” says Matt Humphrey, co-founder and CEO of LendingHome. “When we asked people to tell us how they were adapting, some folks said they were slowing their business as a precaution. Some said they had picked up the pace of home buying because there was less competition. Every corner of the U.S. had a different view on things. But overall, within the next year or less, people expect to be fully back in business.”

Investors said their optimism is based on a few factors, including the fact that many people in the nation are now working remotely. They believe this will encourage more people to move to newer areas or bigger homes.

In addition, other investors say they’re looking for smaller homes that will be faster flips than they were buying prior to the pandemic, as they’re expecting a big rise in demand from buyers.