I’ve been getting a ton of questions regarding Covid and Real Estate so I wanted to address some of the questions in this blog post, as always I am free for zoom video chats if you’re curious about the market.
Is real estate closed? Although some in person real estate activities are closed, the field of real estate never closes. As soon as it’s safe to reopen, or safety accommodations are figured out, zoom consultations and online marketing will be the new norm.
What’s the affect of Covid on the market? We are seeing a number of people pulling their homes from the market and we are currently unable to show homes so that is slowing down closed deals. However, there are still offers being written by people who do not have to see homes in person, likely some investors. Interest rates being lower definitely contributed to more offers being written when showings were allowed. Most importantly though, in Denver, home prices have appreciated in FOUR of the last five recessions.
What are interest rates like? Mortgage rates are very low by historical standards and have been declining over the last few months. The average mortgage rate was 3.33% on 4/9/20. The COVID crisis has created a lot of volatility over the past several weeks, but still around the mid-3%.
Sellers or buyers market? Inventory is slightly down as expected, but some sellers are still keeping their homes on the market. Believe it or not offers are still being written despite the inability to show houses. It is still a seller’s market as the demand for property will continue to outstrip the supply for a long time.
How are showings/closings changing with the new mandates? Showings and closings are down slightly for March, but we expect a much heavier drop in showings for April due to the new mandates on showings.
My final thoughts: risk = reward. For those who were willing to keep their homes on the market, the lack of inventory benefited sellers in terms of pricing. Also, those who were able to keep their jobs and thus keep their loans were able to secure some of the best interest rates we have seen in many years. I am not by any means telling you to take unnecessary risks. However if you are able to stay elsewhere to keep your home on the market while showings occur in this heavily sellers market, or still have the means to buy and lock in the low interest rates, by all means do so.