Predicting

An early morning Google search for “real estate predictions 2012″ resulted in 6,890 pages worth of related content. That’s really amazing to me. That’s a decent sized crowd at a tractor pull. By contrast, the approximate current enrollment at Harvard. Or, the number of brain cells I placed in harm’s way on New Years Eve.

Almost 7,000 individuals/organizations have released commentary on what they feel the real estate market will do this year. Yes, we all know real estate is a driving metric in overall economic health. If you’re interested in where the global economy is headed, real estate (particularly US real estate) is clearly something to carefully consider, but are there really THAT many viable sources of relevant information on which to frame your professional opinion? Well, no. Many of those opinions are simply Internet filler. Google indexing chaff.

One that is not is Rob Hahn’s 2012 set of predictions. Here’s another I liked form newcommbiz.com. Both of these posts lean a little on technology, so you can understand why I gravitated toward them. That’s kind of our thing. Here’s my favorite (courtesy of @ARMLS). Not specifically real estate oriented, but long-term ramifications might affect your credit score and/or existence in the space-time continuum.

As for me I have a 2-sided prediction to make: Side One is that the landscape of MLS is going to continue to begin to change dramatically. Funny way to say it, but that’s the world we live in. I believe we’ll see the relative tiny population of people (superagents, big brokers and their brokerages) moving further away from traditional business continue to grow. The word is definitely out and the word is the consumer is the driver, mobile is the medium and all hands on deck against Zulia. In short, the early adopters looking for something to early adopt will latch on to the newest techniques and tools that speak to this new shift in emphasis.

The time is right for a new generation of techniques and tools and Side Two of my prediction is that our Spring platform is going to turn some heads in this regard, and very soon. There’s a tight window here and we’re about to jump through it with both feet, two arms and a lot of happy screaming. Let’s just leave it at that for now.

So, happy new year to everyone in the Solid Earth universe. We’re looking forward to really focusing on the @SpringMLS set of initiatives, which include development, marketing and all around discourse on MLS re-birth. The Solid Earth leadership team will be traveling to NYC to Inman Connect next week, but not before Matt and I head to New Orleans to root on the Tide. I’ll make no prediction there. Roll Tide.