As you may know, springtime represents the “rush” for the housing market; inventory practically flies off the shelves. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 has thrown nearly everything we know into question; quarantine and economic insecurity do quite a bit to dampen the rush to buy homes. This article will quickly address the elephant in the room: Should I buy a home now or wait until the virus has run its course?
The most obvious factoid is that different housing markets are impacted to varying degrees, that “degree” is directly correlated to how severely that market has been hit by COVID-19. On March 16, 2020 the National Association of Realtors (“NAR”) conducted a survey of real estate agents and found that approximately 48% of realtors have noticed a decrease in interest from buyers as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. On the other hand, 45% of realtors claimed that the low mortgage rates were offsetting buyer anxiety and resulting in a steady flow of business.
If you have enough liquidity to purchase a house notwithstanding these uncertain economic times, then the market has never been better for you. Sellers are uneasy, there has been an artificial swap of supply and demand shortages (there is excess supply), and mortgage rates are historically low. This all creates the perfect storm for buyers who are ready, willing, and able to get out there and buy a home. Moreover, many buyers have also put a halt to their home buying pursuits – this means there will be less competition on the house of your dreams. As a general rule, the less offers a house has, the less likely you are to enter into a bidding war of sorts. The end result is that you may be able to purchase a home with a mortgage payment that is significantly less than renting in Los Angeles. It cannot be stressed enough that these “perfect storm” conditions wont last very long, the longest they could last would be a few weeks after COVID-19 has run its course. Thus, now is the time to purchase if you’re financially capable; we hate to sound like cheesy salesmen, but “these deals wont last forever, so come on down!”
At the Chernov Team we understand that knowledge is power, and knowledge of how to take a negative and make it into a positive for yourself is powerful knowledge indeed; the housing market can be good or bad for you depending on how you approach it. At the Chernov Team we know that whoever comes to the table most prepared leaves with the most, and the Chernov Team always leaves with the most.
