Issue link: http://dsnews.uberflip.com/i/1345366
79 underbuilt significantly, so much so that demand is far above supply and driving home prices up. Real estate has benefited greatly during this pandemic because the desirability of owning a home has been heightened by borrowers seeking more space due to work from home measures. We have also seen a great migration from packed city centers to suburbia as homeowners seek out space because they spend more time at home. However, even before the pandemic, we saw a growing level of demand fueled by the fact that we have a population bubble in the 30- to 45-year-old age group over the next 10 years. e first-time buyer population bubble is just about equivalent to what we saw with baby boomers. So, you have a tremendous amount of demand building, and the pandemic has heightened it. Add in low interest rates, and you create a situation where it is possible to offset increased valuations and make affordability more widespread. e demand is there and, if interest rates stay low, it will be great. e biggest issue today is supply, and builders are ramping up very rapidly to address this problem. e National Association of Homebuilders Housing Market Index hit its all-time high at the end of 2020. Builder activity has picked up at a fairly significant rate. With all these factors combined—extended forbearance, low foreclosures, sustained low- interest rates, and growing demand for housing with supply rising to match it—I think it's going be a very, very good year for us. I expect that we will see about 5.9 million existing home sales this year, which will beat the roughly 5.5 million we saw in 2020. Patrick F. Stone is Executive Chairman and Founder of Williston Financial Group, a company he started in 2010 and one of six national underwriters. Prior to that, he served as President and COO of the nation's largest title insurance company for nine years, Chairman and co-CEO of a software company, and CEO of a real estate information company. Stone previously served on the boards of Fidelity National Financial, First American Corporation, FNIS, MicroGeneral, Green Street Advisors, DigitalMap, HomeGain, RedVision, and Wystein Capital, and also served as Vice-Chairman of Metrocities Mortgage and Chairman of The Stone Group. This time around, the market has improved and borrowers are better positioned with more equity in their homes.