No doubt, you’ve been inundated with constant updates and coverage on the global pandemic that is COVID-19. Of course, there is no shortage of reasons to feel fear and anxiety during this time, and many are experiencing the direct effects of not only the virus itself, but the stress on the economy resulting from it. We will leave the pandemic reporting to the experts; however, we are here to bring you some news in our realm that may surprise you – the housing market is doing very well, in favor of sellers. Life may look very different to all of us, but many facets of day-to-day operations continue to chug along, just with a face mask and hand sanitizer at the ready.
Let’s start with some stats on home ownership percentages as reported by the US Census Bureau here; home ownership has risen to 67.9% in the second quarter from 65.3% in the first quarter of 2020, and 64.1% in the second quarter of last year.
Record-low mortgage rates (that have even dipped below 3%!) have many buyers scrambling for a larger home to spend their self-isolation, in favor of staying away from small and crowded city living. Buyers are facing the issue of low inventory, and because of that, the home prices are shooting up. Median home prices are at a 9.1% increase year over year in the week ending July 18th and the number of homes for sale is down 33% as compared to last year. Buyers also paid a median of $27,000 more for a home in July than they did last, even though the economy have decreased by 9.5% in the second quarter of the year from the previous year – as reported by the US Commerce Department.
Take a look at this graph from ShowingTime.com that shows the “Impact if COVID-19 to Real Estate Showings in North America”.
This goes to show that not all facets of the economy have halted, and there is a really great opportunity for those who are considering selling their home right now. We hope we could share a shred of positive news to you among the chaos. Please share your thoughts with us, we’d love to hear them!
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