As we head deeper into 2025, all eyes are on what’s next for the real estate market; and for those of us who regularly manage resales and settlement documents, this quarter is shaping up to be a pivotal one. Mortgage rates are finally stabilizing, home prices are leveling out (a little), and while there’s cautious optimism in the air, there’s also one truth that stands out: the way we process resales needs to evolve if we’re going to keep up.
Here’s what we’re seeing for the second quarter, and why it’s time to stop relying on paper-heavy processes and start investing in smarter, fully digital workflows.
The Pending Home Sales Index rose slightly by 0.6% in August 2024 from July but was down 3% compared to the same period the previous year. This suggests a sluggish pace in future existing-home sales. And even though the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped 6.08% back in September 2024, affordability remains a concern. Buyers still need an income of around $115,000 to afford the median-priced home, indicating that high home prices continue to pose challenges for many potential buyers. We’re likely to continue seeing tight inventory, regional variation in pricing, and longer timelines to close as buyers shop more cautiously and sellers remain hesitant to lower prices.
The big question that impacts every industry - including community association management - is whether or not the United States will hit a recession in 2025. Goldman Sachs recently increased U.S. Recession probability to 35 percent over the next 12 months, which will certainly impact new home purchases and HOA and COA assessments. And while we can't fully predict a recession, we can at least be proactive in our approach to hard costs, labor costs, and overall processes within management companies.
So what does this mean for resales? It means every delay, every misstep, and every extra cost matters. Homebuyers are going to be very cautious of any price increase and delay, and that concern is going to fall on the laurels of the management company. To keep processes efficient amidst economic uncertainty, we need to be serious about the full digitization of the resale and settlement process.
In this market, where buyers are more cautious and closing timelines are more sensitive, manual resale and settlement processes just don’t cut it anymore. Whether you’re managing 20 associations or 200, relying on mailed documents, printed ownership manuals, paper checks, and disjointed systems creates unnecessary friction and expense.
The average resale generates around $6.12 in hard costs for paper, printing, and postage alone. Multiply that across hundreds of closings a year, and that’s thousands of dollars going toward outdated workflows. And that doesn’t even account for labor.
Resale coordinators are stuck printing, mailing, chasing documents, and cleaning up avoidable errors. Management companies are footing the bill while waiting for mailed ownership packets. And new homeowners? They're left wondering why it takes weeks to get everything in order.
There are plenty of systems out there that offer resale support. But very few (if any) are built to handle the post-settlement part of the process in a way that’s fully digital. That’s where the real time-savings and cost reduction live.
Digitizing the full resale experience means:
No more mailing settlement statements or ownership packets
Automated fee calculations and digital payments
Real-time data syncs between platforms
Faster welcome letters, faster ownership transfers, and far fewer errors
With the right technology, you remove the friction, reduce the costs, and give both your team and homeowners a dramatically better experience.
Heading into Q2, expect modest growth, a competitive market, and a continued push for efficiency. Homeowners and Boards alike are demanding faster turnarounds, clearer communication, and modern tech that matches the experience they expect from every other industry.
And management companies that can deliver on that? They’re the ones who will stand out.
If you’re ready to streamline your resale process, now’s the time to act. The Klozed Beta Program is open for a limited number of management companies who want to be part of shaping the future of resale automation. As a beta partner, you’ll gain early access to our platform, eliminate manual processes, and help us build the features that matter most to you.
Stop mailing owner packets. Stop chasing down settlement statements. Start digitizing resales for good.