IBuyers like Opendoor, Offerpad and Zillow Offers could be hugely successful and yet, nonetheless, amount to a negligible market presence, NRT CEO Ryan Gorman said during a lively Broker Connect session Tuesday at Inman Connect Las Vegas.
In an entertaining morning session inside the Aria Resort on the Las Vegas Strip entitled “Don’t Believe the Hype: Why iBuyers Might Not be Public Enemy #1 After All,” the fast-talking Gorman broke down exactly why he believes iBuyers aren’t an existential threat to the livelihoods of real estate agents.
“When you look at most of the predictions by people who can do math, it comes to around 3 to 5 percent of the U.S. market may qualify for this model [in 3-5 years] at some level of maturity,” Gorman said. “Lots of people predicted far more than that, some of them can do math, some of them cannot.”
In Phoenix, which is flush with iBuyers, Gorman said it’s not different than a market where new home builders are dominating.
“What happens when new home construction is flying off the shelves? Everyone loses our number,” Gorman said. “Then when it gets a little crowded and the new development is finally at scale across the highway and there’s a little bit of competition? Suddenly our phone is ringing off the hook.”
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