Even if housing markets across the country are slowing to a crawl, many Realtors across the country are holding out hope for a post-pandemic rebound.
Nearly 6 in 10 National Association of Realtors surveyed recently aid buyers are delaying home purchases for a couple of months, while a similar share of members – 57 percent – said sellers are delaying home sales for a couple of months. The majority of believe activity will return to the market in the form of delayed transactions following the end of the health crisis.
“Home sales will decline this spring season because of unique economic and social consequences resulting from the coronavirus outbreak, but much of the activity looks to reappear later in the year,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. “Home prices will remain stable because of a pandemic-induced reduction in inventory coupled with less immediate concerns over foreclosures.”
NAR’s latest Economic Pulse Flash Survey, conducted on April 5 and April 6 asked a random sample of the organization’s 92,630 members questions about how the coronavirus outbreak has impacted the residential and commercial real estate markets. 5,855 Realtors across the country. Ninety-three percent of respondents said the majority of their business is residential. Eighty-nine percent of respondents live under a state of emergency and 83 percent work in a local market with presumed or confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Nearly all respondents said buyer interest declined in their market and 80 percent cited a decline in the number of homes on the market.
Almost 3 in 4 respondents – 72 percent – said sellers have not reduced prices to attract buyers. Conversely, 63 percent said buyers are expecting a decline in home prices as buyers sense less competition in the current environment.
Residential tenants are facing rent payment issues, but many delayed payment requests are being accommodated. Nearly half of property managers – 46 percent – reported being able to accommodate tenants who cannot pay rent and more than a quarter of individual landlords – 27 percent – said the same.
