In Case You Missed It: December 2018 Real Estate News

By Jessie Trapp, Marketing Coordinator & Tiana Baur, Content Marketing Manager

Does anyone else feel like they blinked, and an entire year passed? It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone, but we’re excited for all sorts of fun new products and good Moxi stuff to hit the market in 2019! However, we can’t move forward without taking a quick glimpse back at the last month in 2018.

In case you missed it, here are the top five December 2018 real estate news stories to know:

1. Look Who’s Sharing Now: Airbnb Moves Into Construction and Real Estate Markets

Airbnb is coming in hot to the real estate development industry. According to RISMedia, “Airbnb is looking to leave its imprint in a more concrete way: designing, building and sharing homes based on contemporary lifestyles.” They’re gearing up to test prototype units as early as fall 2019. While construction completion dates aren’t exactly set in stone, there’s one thing that’s certain: this initiative is just the beginning for Airbnb.

2. Amazon to Spark Massive Real Estate Shift in NYC and D.C. Markets

Amazon is shaking things up… not that that’s news. However, their new headquarters in NYC and D.C. are sparking fear and anxiety with residents. Why? They’re worried about being priced out of metro areas. If Seattle’s market history is any indication, the outlook is less than ideal. In fact, in our home city of Seattle, the “median home value has increased dramatically by 73 percent to $739,600 over the past five years,” according to Zillow. East Coast friends, we have our fingers crossed for you.

3. Portland real estate offices targeted with violent graffiti

According to Inman News, “Vandals spray-painted threatening words including ‘die,’ ‘gentrification’ and ‘get out’ on the windows of two Portland, Oregon real estate brokerage offices over the holiday weekend.” Apparently, the talk of gentrification in Portland has grown a lot, and unfortunately, someone stooped to this level to be heard.

4. RE/MAX hires Under Armour vet, tech founder as new execs

RE/MAX hired Kerry McGovern, from Under Armour, as its new VP of Communications, overseeing all of RE/MAX and Motto Mortgage’s (their fast-growing franchise) internal and external communications and social media. We’re wondering if the dramatic change has anything to do with Under Armour’s lack of performance this year, but who really knows.

Jerry Modes was hired as RE/MAX’s new Senior VP of Information Technology. He is known for co-founding tech companies Teradata and HyperParallel.

5. Compass hiring 100 more engineers for Seattle tech hub

Saved the best for last. Compass announced they are launching a Seattle-based campus, hiring 100 more engineers (although, a little birdie told us it was hundreds). Their CTO stated that, “Seattle is home to some of the best visionary technology leaders and engineers in the world,” and honestly, how could we disagree with that?!

We hope you all have an incredible (and safe) New Years! See you in 2019.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for another #ICYMI!