“That was a surprise:” When Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary reflected on the changing house market 

Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary also known as Mr. Wonderful is a successful business expert who studied in Cambodia, Cyprus, Tunisia, Ethiopia, France, and Switzerland. As per his official ABC bio, O'Leary owns the O'Leary Financial Group which consists of O'Shares Investment Advisers, O'Leary Ventures, and O'Leary Fine Wines.

With the changing housing market and its impact on America's economy, the investor reflected on the impact of remote work environments and the reasons why wealthy residents were moving to Miami, Florida, and Austin, Texas from high-tax states including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.

In a conversation with Newsweek on July 12, 2024, Kevin O'Leary talked about the high mortgage rates that haven't lowered the housing demand. This was a surprise to the Shark Tank star who explained that there had been times when the rates were more than 7 percent and had led to the economy's growth. He continued:

"The majority of housing is extraordinarily buoyant through an unprecedented period of rate hikes, and so for those of us who analyze this every day as we try and deploy capital, that was a surprise."

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Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary analyzed the structure of house market rates

Shark Tank investors discussed the reason behind the high housing costs for buyers. he explained that homeowners who have a lower mortgage rate are discouraged from selling and "facing new loans at more than 7 percent interest." As per O'Leary the majority of the houses have an interest rate below 6 percent, he explained:

"That was unprecedented in terms of the pace. If those people were to sell their homes now, they would be now facing a 7½ percent mortgage versus 3½ percent. They have no incentive to sell their homes."

He continued explaining why the retired wealthy majority was choosing to move from high-tax states to states such as Miami, Florida, and Austin, Texas. The Shark Tank investor talked about the impact of the "digital economy" which has skyrocketed due to an increase in remote work options. After the global pandemic, hybrid and remote work models have taken over the United States giving residents an option to move to places away from cities to seek a better lifestyle. O'Leary further elaborated:

"So you've got an artificially low number of existing housing units not coming on the market. That's particularly evident in Florida, Texas, Tennessee and other markets. If you were looking at a map of...where housing is particularly strong, it coincides or correlates with more attractive tax policy."

This directly affected the demand in "smaller towns" as mentioned by O'Leary who analyzed the "more attractive tax policy." He concluded:

"If you can move a hundred miles out of the city or 200 miles away from where you work, you live in a better location for many reasons—better housing, better schools, a better lifestyle."

Kevin has published two best-selling books Cold Hard Truth on Men, Women and Money and Cold Hard Truth on Family, Kids and Money. On his Instagram, O'Leary shares content related to financial knowledge, guidance on investments, and life lessons he learned from his journey to attaining success.

Shark Tank fans can follow Kevin on his official social media accounts. New episodes of the ABC series air every week on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET.