Like metals, I think we need to think of real estate prices as consisting of two additive values:
- Demand Value: Greater demand drives up prices.
- Dollar Value: Inflating dollar drives up prices.
Price = Demand Value + Dollar Value
(Those are my terms. Some economist somewhere probably has formal names for these concepts. I know I didn't invent the concepts.)
In other words,
demand for property could go up, and so
prices of real estate will go up. It takes more dollars to buy property because more people want to buy it, and its demand-driven value increases.
Or, demand for property could remain the same, while the
dollar inflates (i.e., the dollar loses value), and so
prices of real estate will go up. It takes more dollars to buy real estate than before because each dollar isn't worth as much, and you need to have more of them to buy the same property.
Real estate is a non-USD way to hold wealth. If inflation is coming, the rich will want to buy real estate which creates greater short term demand and therefore higher proces, and later inflation will create longer term higher prices. The key is to hold real estate before the inflation comes. I have seen articles indicating that pension funds, investment firms and Wall Street banks have been buying up family homes for a few years now. Could be because they see inflation coming. Could be because they are moving out of commercial real estate due to covid/work from home trends. Who knows?