The housing market in the US is a key indicator as to the health of the US economy. A buoyant housing market shows a strong economy, whilst a moribund housing market is a sure sign that the economy is not in a good way.
Currently, the housing market in the world’s strongest economy isn’t looking so great. Recent figures have been disappointing, to say the least. Only last week, figures from the Commerce Department revealed that builders broke ground on fewer apartment buildings in April, with overall home construction down 3.7 percent from March. Housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million last month, lowest since December 2017.
US Housing Sector numbers have been lower across the board this year, down 7% in April and with no indication that the market will pick up, especially with the very real threat of interest rate rates later in the year. Despite business booming in the general home service repair industry, the housing market in the US, has yet to really fully recover from the 2008 financial crisis. However, that could be about to change as the blockchain and crypto revolution is slowly but surely creeping into the housing market.
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Ivan Pacheco made history in December 2017 when Bitcoin was it its peak (circa $20k). Ivan directly traded 17.741 bitcoins for a Miami condo becoming the first known person to buy a property directly with a cryptocurrency.
Buying and selling homes in crypto is still a long way from being typical, but we are seeing more and more property transactions in digital coins in the crypto news sites. Normally crypto holders would exchange their coins for cash before making a purchase. Crypto volatility does not make it a stable method of purchase. A price could be agreed but by the time the funds are transferred, the value could be significantly higher or lower. Even if both the buyer and seller agreed a sale in crypto, the volatility makes it very difficult for both parties.
So, although all crypto purchases look to be for just the wealthy at the moment, what is interesting is the effect blockchain technology could have on the house buying and selling process. Blockchain technology could, in theory, cut out the real estate agent and thus cut out their fees from the equation. When you consider that in the US, the realtor’s fees could be anything up to 6%, you get an idea of the potential savings that could be made and the boost it could give to a housing market that is stagnant at best.
Coins like Deedcoin are creeping into play too. Deedcoin token holders working with Deedcoin-approved agents can use the tokens to substitute cash portions of an agent’s fee. Deedcoin is providing consumers with a unique network of agents and using blockchain tokens to manage network access.
Although there is a long way to go before the crypto world revolutionizes the real estate world, slowly but surely we are seeing more collaboration and more opportunities develop that, over time, could invigorate a complicated and slightly needy housing market situation.
