Getty Images

During the height of COVID-19, it seemed like everyone knew someone who had bought a home and then remodeled the kitchen, created a home office or gym, or turned the scraggly backyard into an outdoor oasis.

But as the pandemic enters its fourth year, most folks are no longer trapped in their homes obsessing over every flaw. The homebuying frenzy that typically spurs remodeling work has died down. And many people are more concerned with high inflation and the looming threat of a recession than their dream en suite bathroom.

Where does that leave the remodeling industry? In fairly good shape, say most experts. Homeowners are expected to spend even more on remodeling, repairs, and maintenance in 2023 than they did in 2022.

“We are expecting the market to continue to grow, just not nearly as fast as it was the past couple of years,” says Abbe Will, a senior research associate at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. “Even if we are in a recession in 2023, I wouldn’t necessarily expect the renovation market to decline.”

Most New Yorkers wish for more space, but moving isn’t the only way to get it. Sometimes you just have to wait out the neighbors.

Most New Yorkers wish for more space, but moving isn’t the only way to get it. Sometimes you just have to wait for the neighbors to sell.

From the places that will be most in demand to the platforms you need to focus on, these statistics will help you hit the ground running as you plan your 2023 marketing strategy.

Satisfying renters is the North Star in the multifamily sector. That is the mundane matter that must be mastered.

As the last couple of years have shown us, the only thing we can rely on is change, according to The Agency president Rainy Hake Austin. Clear out some time on the calendar to put the necessary thought into nailing down your marketing budget this year so that you're ready to communicate through whatever's next.

To better illustrate how capricious the real estate industry was in 2022, Inman searched high and low for rogue data points that drove the housing market and best reflected this year's wild tumble.

Curious what your competition and colleagues are reading? Here are the top 10 most-read articles from Inman contributors this year.

Social media is still a tremendous tool for real estate professionals to grow their businesses. Counting social media out in the coming year would be a mistake. 

Realtor.com

An oceanfront estate with an architectural pedigree has splashed onto the market in Koloa, HI.

Listed for $30 million, the property clocks in as Kauai’s priciest listing.

It’s located on the island’s South Shore, bordered by the Allerton National Tropical Botanical Garden, and just east of Lawai Bay and Ka Lae O Kaiwa beach.

While the North Shore is an area popular with tourists and public figures alike, including Carlos Santana and Sylvester Stallone, who have owned beach homes there, the South Shore is more low-key and considered “the sunny side.”

Realtor.com / Amazon Retailers

Nothing injects a special dash of excitement into cooking like a fancy new kitchen gadget. Who can resist the allure of the almighty egg cuber, or the fun they’ll have Sunday morning whipping out that pancake pen? Odds are you already have a few hyperspecialized tools stashed in your cabinets and are itching to add one or three more.

“This category of small kitchen appliances and tools is hard for people to resist,” points out Pamela O’Brien, interior decorator at Pamela Hope Designs.

Alas, the thrill you’ll feel using that carrot sharpener or condiment gun is bound to be short-lived, at which point you’ll be cramming it into stuffed drawers and regretting this impulse purchase.

That’s why we’re here to stage an intervention and let you know whether your kitchen gadget habit is out of control. See if you recognize your own kitchen choices in any of these red flags below— and if so, it might be high time to start purging rather than adding to your collection.

Photo courtesy of dogthebountyhunter.com / Realtor.com

This “dog” is trading the mountains for the beach.

Duane Chapman, aka “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” appears to have found a buyer for his enormous Castle Rock, CO, home, according to the New York Post.

Chapman, who has put down new roots in Florida, listed his 9-acre property in Colorado in October for $1,690,000. He dropped the price to $1,595,000 in November, and now a sale is pending.

On the beautiful land is a 6,200-square-foot mansion with six bedrooms and five baths.

Realtor.com

Here at Realtor.com, there are few things we find more satisfying than flipping through before and after photos of a great home transformation. And in 2022—a challenging year when many would-be homebuyers or sellers decided to stay put and fix up their house instead—there was no shortage of noteworthy renovation projects.

In our “Lessons From Listings Photos” series, we looked at plenty of homes in need of some love that went from drab to fab. With the help of home design and real estate experts, we homed in on what changes made these renovated homes so sought after—from fresh coats of paint to total kitchen makeovers.

It was tough for us to pick out a single property as the winner, so instead, we put together this room-by-room showcase of our favorite transformations to give you a recap of the best of the best in 2022.

Best backyard

The property: A plain Jane 1950s L.A. ranch home in need of a personality infusion

A Cape Cod-style home in San Marino, a modern farmhouse in Kenwood and a contemporary showplace in El Dorado Hills.

A Cape Cod-style home in San Marino, a modern farmhouse in Kenwood and a contemporary showplace in El Dorado Hills.

"I used to think that there was no such thing as too much business. But the pace many of us had to maintain during the housing frenzy of the past few years was exhausting, and burnout was a real problem."

Allowing unleashed dogs in common areas of residential buildings is against the law. Complain to your landlord, and if that doesn’t work, you have other options.

As home price growth has slowed, mortgage payments have decreased and days on market have risen, homebuyers dip their toes back into the market, according to a new report from Redfin.

Getty Images

Few home accents add ambiance to a room as instantly as candles. A single taper at dinner can make even Thai takeout feel romantic. One lit in the loo can turn your run-of-the-mill bath into a spa retreat. And no holiday setup is complete without a candle shaped like Frosty the Snowman.

America’s adoration of these tiny flickering flames is so strong, in fact, that the candle industry was recently valued at $3.54 billion—projected to grow to $6.64 billion by 2027.

However, one has to ask: Have we gone too far?

Much like there are crazy plant people and people who have way too many specialized kitchen gadgets, certain people may have too much wax for their own good.

We asked the buzzy new AI tool ChatGPT to write a report for Inman on iBuyers, technology and tips for agents going into the new year. Turns out, the bot might have a bright future in real estate.