A question I am getting a lot from agents and people out in the general public lately is this:
"What's going to happen to the Real Estate market in the Coronavirus crisis?"
The first thing we should do is to define what they mean by "Real Estate Market." What are they specifically talking about?
1. Most people are referring to Home values.
Are prices going to go up or down? The short answer to that (besides nobody really knows with certainty), is that prices will likely be stable or go UP. It's all about supply and demand. Supply was already at historic lows before the Coronavirus situation. The flow of listings and available inventory will likely only get worse as we get further into this - people will be hesitant to list yet there will still be strong buyer demand. Many people are moving money from the stock market, which has been very volatile lately, into the more stable investment of real estate. Values are likely to be just fine.
2. The other market to talk about is Sales volume.
Numbers of transactions being done. This will likely go down in this crisis. The total amount of sales will most likely be less over the next 2-5 months or so. The MEDIA will report that the real estate market is crashing come May (likely) because sales are going to be down. The total number of homes being sold will likely be down in the 2nd quarter of 2020. VALUES will still be high though and the people who want to sell will be able to still get a great price in a very short listing (days on market). The media is poor at making those distinctions and they tend to incite panic when sales numbers are being reported as slowing.
We (the overall market of Real Estate agents) will likely sell as many homes in 2020 as we would have without this pandemic, it's just going to be concentrated to the 3rd and 4th quarter. It will also be concentrated on the agents who prepare now and take action, not freeze.
SO, it's imperative that you lead generate NOW and nurture your SOI by staying in consistent contact with everyone in your database as we move through this.