In cities as well as suburban and rural markets, the aftershocks of a wild 2020 are still very much being felt. 

“To call this year unusual would be a major understatement,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist, Realtor.com. “In 2020, the housing market was off to a strong start, then the pandemic put it on ice for a couple of months, though we never saw home prices decline, only flatten. Then, as the economy opened back up, housing markets roared back to life and prices grew at double-digit paces.”

(Mansion Global is owned by Dow Jones. Both Dow Jones and Realtor.com are owned by News Corp.)

While 2021 has thus far been spared the wild ups and downs of the previous year, we’re still in the middle of an unusual market. As activity starts to normalize from the chaos of the past 18 months, below, some insights on what lies ahead from Tuesday’s panel discussions on residential real estate:

Cities Were Never Dead

While big cities—particularly those that rely heavily on foreign investment—unquestionably took a hit in the pandemic, some are already bouncing back stronger than ever.

“You really can’t go wrong with [investing in] New York,” said Vasiliki Yiannoulis-Riva, partner, Withersworldwide. “Even in an event like the pandemic where the market corrected for a bit, demand has soared, it’s through the roof.” 

Similarly, in London, transaction volumes for properties above £5 million (US$6.7 million) were up 61% year over year, Mr. Tostevin said.

Meanwhile, smaller cities have also seen a significant influx of buyers seeking lower home prices and more space, while still prioritizing access to urban cultural amenities and a shorter commute to the office.

“Small cities have come out as places that can offer those things quite well,” Mr. Tostevin said. “They make it easy to nip into the office when needed, with cheaper living accommodations. We’ve seen that translate into price growth.” 

For this reason, Ms. Yiannoulis-Riva said she is currently steering investors toward “places like Nashville, Austin [Texas], Atlanta, cities foreign investors don’t tend to think about, but are up and coming and vibrant because people are moving there for a higher quality of life.”

Markets May Normalize, but Don’t Call It a Bubble Burst

The breakneck growth of the past year has inevitably led to fears of a potential bubble. Though the pace of growth seen during the peak of the pandemic buying frenzy is not expected to continue, experts aren’t forecasting any precipitous drop in values, either.

“We do expect to see double-digit price growth continue throughout 2021 and into 2022,” said Molly Boesel, principal economist, CoreLogic. “There’s really short supply, and really high demand. Later in 2022 we do expect price growth to slow to about a 2% or 3% annual growth rate.”

Ms. Hale added, “The housing market has gone from frenzied to just hot, is how I would describe what happened in the last year.”

Rather than the speculation that fueled the run up in prices ahead of the 2007 housing market crash, “right now, we’re seeing fundamentals driving price appreciation,” said George Ratiu, senior economist and manager, Economic Research, Realtor.com. “Tremendous demand, not enough supply, a decade of under-building.”

In addition to the chronic overall lack of supply, millennial buyers have entered the market full force, a trend that shows no signs of slowing down.

“In a five- or six- year span, 25 to 30 million millennials are turning 30 [and entering the sales market],” Mr. Ratiu said. “Builders are barely keeping pace, so we’ll have these dynamics with us for the short to medium term.”