Becoming a homeowner in the United States has long been the benchmark for success in achieving the American dream. Forty years ago, when a borrower was ready to buy a home, they probably drove around the block to see what was on the market before contacting a real estate agent and going to their local bank branch to get a financing for a mortgage loan.

Today, only 6% of home buyers drive to their home or neighborhood as the first step in their home buying journey. The real estate world we operate in today is light years ahead of what it was when I joined the mortgage industry over 20 years ago.

Out of necessity, the digitalization of mortgages has accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, but technological evolution in the real estate sector has been underway for some time.

In 1995, REALTOR.com launched as the first portal to obtain mass MLS listings. Online marketplaces like Zillow and Trulia emerged in the early 2000s, completely changing the way people search for and find their dream homes: Suddenly, buyers could view real estate listings on a massive scale. national in the palm of their hand.

By 2022, nearly 99% of homebuyers ages 24 to 57 used the Internet to purchase a home. Although digital mortgages gained momentum after the development of secure platforms and electronic signature technologies, they grew even faster during the pandemic-era refinancing boom.