“Hot market was doused by pandemic but there is some optimism”
“What’s not likely is that the bulk of potential home sellers and buyers simply throw up their hands and pull back from the market entirely”, Zillow report shows. A new report shows that what was poised to be ‘the most competitive’ spring market in years instead ended up with plummeting numbers of new listings.
A month and a half ago, spring of 2020 looked like it was going to be the most competitive home shopping season in years. Then the coronavirus pandemic struck and sent the number of new listings into free fall. The report shows that by April 5, new listings across the U.S. had fallen 27.1 percent compared to the same time last year. “New listings typically pick up in late March and early April as home shopping season kicks into gear.” Moreover, the report notes that the total number of active listings is down 8.3 percent. Inventory, meanwhile, is up 2.5 percent since March 1, which according to the report “indicates homes have been sitting on the market for longer while buyers have pulled back.”
“As March began, the housing market appeared poised for the most competitive home shopping season in years,” the report notes. The pandemic — which has brought widespread quarantines and social distancing mandates — changed the course of the market by tanking the economy.
The report ultimately concludes that “buyers, sellers and their agents have begun to change their behaviors as they adapt to public health requirements.” Zillow economists Skylar Olsen additionally called recent unemployment figures “striking” in the report and said that sellers are “adopting a wait-and-see approach as uncertainty continues to rule.”
But she expressed some optimism as well.
“It is possible that this year’s busy home shopping season is pushed into winter as some opt to hang back, but activity continues from those who need to buy or sell for a job move or another major life event,” Zillow says
Skylar Olsen. Zillow. INMAM 4.10.20
