Efforts to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus have impacted all facets of our daily lives. I wanted to examine how the real estate market is adjusting. The first sign of any changes will come in the number of new listings and the number of new pending sales. Listing activity appears to still be strong. However the charts above illustrate the following:
- New pending sales for the week from 11Mar20 to 17Mar20 were at 211. This is down -21.9% from 270 the week prior, but still above the 191 new pending sales from 26Feb20 to 03Mar20.
- This is at a time when we would expect weekly increases in new pending sales has we approach the peak season.
- There is as of yet no discernable effect on sales prices as shown in the right part of the figure above.
- The median days on market remained at 5 for homes under contract from 11Mar20 through 17Mar20, which is the same as the prior week.
This is very early, and so far the impact on the real estate market has not been pronounced. I will be keeping on eye on this data weekly.
