Existing Home Sales Could Be Turbocharged by Transformations in the Buying and Selling Process

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By Trey Thoelcke Updated Published
Existing Home Sales Could Be Turbocharged by Transformations in the Buying and Selling Process

© jcrosemann / iStock via Getty Images

By George Whitridge | @GeorgeOfARK

On Zillow’s third quarter earnings call, CEO Rich Barton stated, “In September, we saw the pace of existing home sales climb to the highest level since 2006, exceeding 6.5 million annualized units,” as shown below. We believe that the combination of increased demand for personal space during the coronavirus crisis and mortgage rates at 50-year lows has contributed to the surge in home sales.

Screen Shot 2020-11-09 at 6.47.17 AM

In our view, sales will continue to rise as digital platforms reduce the friction associated with buying and selling homes. During the third quarter, for example, nearly two thirds of the home purchases on Zillow Offers closed digitally with an online notary. In our view, next generation real estate platforms like Zillow, Opendoor, and Redfin will continue to simplify the home buying and selling processes, adding significant liquidity to the real estate market during the next five to ten years.

Catherine Wood, ARK Invest CEO, is a shareholder of 24/7 Wall St. LLC.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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