We all know that the real estate market moves in cycles. We’re waiting for a market correction to take full effect and move us into more favorable conditions – but where exactly are we right now? And, more importantly, how did we get here?

Over the past year or so, it’s been impossible to escape real estate market doomsaying. It seems everyone is holding their breath in anticipation of a bursting bubble or housing crash. That, however, doesn’t seem as likely as a slow housing market correction.

While the 2020 real estate market defied all expectations and pulled record-breaking performance among secondary and tertiary markets across the nation, it was an economic anomaly. 

According to the experts, the United States officially entered into a recession in February 2020. With economic turmoil and record-high job losses, it’s not difficult to see the ripple effects of recession spread out into the areas of our lives.

If you look at the headlines, you will see article after article written about the state of the real estate market amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Headlines will declare the spring homebuying season DOA, incite panic among commercial real estate owners who won’t see rent paid, and cause the Average Joe to worry that 2020 will see a throwback to the 2008 Great Recession.

Throughout much of the COVID-19 discussion, we’ve emphasized just how uncharted this territory is. In so many ways, we just don’t know where things will go from here and how deeply and truly the pandemic will affect not just real estate investing, but all areas of life, work, and recreation.

While there are many factors to pay attention to as an investor of any kind, one of the biggest indicators that people seem to look to, no matter what is the market cycle. For real estate investors, the real estate cycle can be valuable to understand, but it can create a lot of stress and anxiety if relied on too heavily for decision-making.

It seems like there are as many predictions about the recovery of the real estate market as there are stars in the sky. A quick Google search will lead you to opinion after opinion, tackling the issue from all angles. In fact, you’ll find glowingly optimistic predictions in one article and doom saying in another. For real estate investors, how do know who to trust when the same data is being interpreted in vastly different ways?

What if you choose to put your future in an opinion that turns out to be wrong? There’s a lot of risk there.