This real estate market is SO interesting

We now have the stats for the month of April, which was our first full month of a COVID-19 influenced market.

As expected, we've seen decreases in both new listings and pending sales, with new listings down 32.4% from April 2019 and 17.9% from March 2020.  Similarly, pending sales are down 34.2% from 2019 and 12% from March 2020.

Inventory bumped up a tad, to 2.4 months.  But...market time decreased to 44 days, from 61 from the year, and March.  What?  That's a pretty substantial change.

And, we're seeing an increase in the median sale price, up 3.9%  year to date compared to the same time period last year.  A 3.8% increase in the median price for the previous 12 months.    That's all greater than the 2019 median price increase of 2.5%.

So fewer new listings, fewer pending sales, shorter market time and higher prices.  What the heck?  And all this amid distancing and hygiene protocols including no in-person open houses, restrictions on the number of people in a house at one time, booties, masks, gloves etc.

Different from the recession, housing and lending didn't cause this "downturn" if it even is a downturn.  With decisive buyers and sellers still transacting real estate, pressure remains on prices and market times.

We often make assumptions about motivations and pressure on buyers and sellers.  How people feel about and are affected by COVID-19 seems to vary greatly.  Some folks are fully employed, some not.  Life changes continue to influence real estate, with people transacting depending on their specific situations.  Some buyers and sellers are sitting out of the market until things clear up, others are proceeding.

Its pretty clear to me that we'll have several months, if not longer, with some distancing guidelines and protocols.  Our challenge is to continue living our lives amid those guidelines and protocols.  The path I find, and the risks I choose to take may vary from yours.  I may add in a second or third grocery store trip per week, while someone else might attend a large gathering. Neither are right or wrong.  Similarly, some buyers and sellers may proceed to transact, while others aren't comfortable doing so.  Neither are right or wrong.

I am working, and should you be comfortable, I'm glad to help you transact real estate.  I do have a (small) supply of gloves, masks, booties and disinfecting wipes to help keep us safe.  If you've got questions about the market (or our protocols) get in touch.