According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment hit 14.7% in April 2020 with roughly 23.1M Americans out of work. Naturally, homeowners looking to sell might wonder what that means for the housing market in the near future.
Many would-be buyers are unable to buy a home simply because they have temporarily lost their jobs and won’t be able to buy when this ends because it will take time to replenish their reserves. In addition to potential home-buyers’ woes, home sellers are also pulling out of the market as a result of their concern that the current market will result in them taking a loss on their property; something that will likely change once things go back to normal. Thus, we have low inventory (forcing prices higher) and rampant unemployment (meaning less people can afford to buy theses houses), so in some ways the housing market looks to be on pause for a short period of time.
On the other hand, the government has been pumping previously unheard-of amounts of money into the economy to offset some of the damage from this virus, and that may encourage would-be buyers to take a leap of faith. With that said, the most likely scenario is that, within a few months of ending the shutdown, the housing market should return to pre-COVID-19 levels. Another important thing to note is that the Buyers that are still actively in search of a home are now more motivated and qualified than your average Buyer as they are looking to buy in this challenging time.
At the Chernov Team we understand that knowledge is power, and knowledge of how the market will behave in the near future is powerful knowledge indeed. At the Chernov Team we know that whoever comes to the table most prepared leaves with the most, and the Chernov Team always leaves the table with the most.
