FEATURE
MARKET SHIFTS
MYRTLE BEACH, SC ▼
Where Are the Investors? SHIFTS ARE OCCURRING IN THE 2024 REAL ESTATE MARKET AS INVESTORS FLOCK TO EMERGING HOT SPOTS AND RETREAT FROM TRADITIONAL STRONGHOLDS.
DAREN BLOMQUIST
R eal estate has always been local—and trends in the 2024 housing market are proving that out with substantial market variance in retail market inventory, home price appreciation, and even foreclosure starts. These retail trends, in turn, impact interest from local community developers buying on Auction.com. “Chattanooga has just been flooded with investors from California and other places … there’s not property that you
can buy and afford there,” said Steve Johnson, an Auction.com buyer who lives in Chattanooga but decided to start buying properties across the border in Georgia when he was priced out of Chattanooga. “These smaller, less urban counties and cities—they are gold mines for finding properties that are under the radar for big-time flippers, big-time investors. But there are a tremendous number of people looking for a home.” Atlanta-based Auction.com buyer Sue McCormick told a similar story.
“I wanted to start investing, but Atlanta is a bit expensive,” said McCormick, who decided to start investing instead in Dayton, Ohio, where she grew up. “I started investing in my hometown because it was easier to get into.” BIDDING ACTIVITY AS A RETAIL MARKET BAROMETER Bidding and buying activity from investors like McCormick and Johnson acts as a reliable barometer of local retail market strength.
8 | think realty magazine :: september - october 2024
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