As America Begins to Open up Again, It Is Good News for the Real Estate Industry:

“After a three month quasi-hiatus, real estate activity across the globe as well as here in Routt County is picking up. While we may not reach levels of the last few years, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic for the remainder of 2020,” said Steve Goldman, CEO of Colorado Group Realty.

Throughout May, the National Association of Realtors conducted an online survey, to gauge the needs of buyers and sellers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

They found that 65% of respondents would be comfortable touring a home for sale. 82% said they would within three months, assuming safety precautions were in place. Four out of ten buyers said they would purchase a property without a visit. 54% of buyers and 62% of sellers valued guidance from their Realtor® during the pandemic.

Zillow, the online real estate database company, looked at the impact of previous pandemics and found that during SARS, for example, transaction volumes dropped considerably, but house prices remained mostly unchanged.

Laurence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors believes housing will be one sector leading us out of a recession and predicts home sales to rise approximately 10%, while home values could increase by 3-5%. Mortgage rates remain at historical lows and demand still outweighs supply. Yun also noted that while overall retail sales are down, spending on home improvement is up, as the pandemic highlighted the value people place on where they live.

In the 2008 recession, homeowners without appropriate credit were still able to purchase properties they could not afford, leading to a housing bubble. The situation we face now is markedly different given the unprecedented Federal support, which instills faith that the housing market will hold its own. While the pandemic has certainly been damaging to the economy, it has also increased the desire to own a home and spurred interest from people looking to move to a new home.