Is now a good time to buy? With the advent of the novel Covid-19 Virus housing like many other industries has been affected. According to data from Zillow searches have dropped by 40% but prices have stayed the same. What can we infer from the data we are acquiring from this early phase? Even though there has been a drop in the overall amount of buyers, it is still a seller’s market. According to MAR’s weekly market activity report we have seen a 22% decrease in new listings as well as an 8.5% decrease in pending sales. This doesn’t necessarily reflect the health of the market however! Homes are now spending 41 days on market as opposed to the 45 day average of last year. On top of that there has been a 3.3% median sale price increase. All in all the market is still in seller’s favor.
Now, any good statistician will tell you that is foolish to extrapolate data especially with something as fickle as the real estate market. One thing we can do now is look at current conditions and try to paint a vague picture of the future. With talks of a second stimulus check coming out there seems to be hope for a little more stability in the future. However, states are all over the place when it comes to lifting their emergency protections for renters and homeowners. This can spell disaster for both homeowners and renters who may now owe back payments on rent and mortgages. All in all, 2020 has been a wild and unpredictable ride and we will see where the market takes us next.