February 02 2023
Even while the overall U.S. housing market faced uphill challenges in 2022, more Americans are seeking alternative ways to buy and sell real estate as innovative solutions increase nationwide availability. That's what a new report from PropTech software marketplace provider zavvie found.
Power Buyers, offering "Cash Offers" and "Buy Before You Sell" bridge solutions for home buyers, grew 33 percent during an overall U.S. market decline of 38 percent. In addition, Listing Concierge presale renovation companies, which help sellers maximize the value of their home, rose by nearly 5x — 490 percent.
And while iBuyers began the year strong, purchasing 53 percent more homes in Q1 than in the record-setting previous year, the pace of growth slowed dramatically throughout the year. By Q4, iBuyer purchases had tapered to a near standstill. Nevertheless, despite the slowdown in this sector, zavvie's new Modern Marketplace Index, an indicator of the overall market share of these new solutions, increased modestly over the past two years, from 2.59 percent in 2022 to 2.67 percent by the beginning of 2023.
The first-of-its-kind report that closely tracks a range of innovative buying and selling solutions, the new zavvie "Modern Marketplace Report: 2022 Year in Review" details the explosive growth of these businesses. The latest report examines the changes in these new solutions and the impact on the U.S. real estate landscape last year, focusing on the consumer experience, from offer strength and acceptance rates to costs and customer satisfaction.
"It's clear that the popularity of these new solutions for home sellers and buyers continues to grow," noted Stefan Peterson, zavvie Chief Data Officer and Co-Founder. "Real estate brokers and agents know that in today's market, to win over the customer, they must have these vital tools in their kit — or they will lose out to a competitor who does."
"With these new buyer and seller solutions, agents can help customers get unstuck, creating new inventory by having conversations about how these innovations work and the benefits they offer," he added.
Among the new study's additional findings for 2022:
One of the most significant trends emerging from the zavvie report is the continued expansion of the Modern Marketplace, particularly among Power Buyers and Listing Concierge companies.
EasyKnock grew its revenues 89% compared with 2021 while completing Power Buyer transactions in 47 different states.
UpEquity quadrupled its Buy Before You Sell business.
The Listing Concierge service Curbio raised $90M in funding and completed more than 1,700 projects, an increase of 125% over 2021.
Revive, which offers pre-sale renovations as well as an innovative instant sale product, experienced 75% growth each quarter.
Peterson notes that the common thread among all the Modern Marketplace choices is high customer satisfaction.
"Ultimately, the consumer will determine if a business is delivering good value," he said. "The vast majority of consumers who have used one of the Modern Marketplace solutions are glad they did and would do it again."