Reposted with permission from Mike DelPrete.
Several of the earliest hit U.S. markets, with the exception of New York City, have seen an uptick in new listing volumes over the past week. There is a hopeful possibility that activity has “bottomed out” and has started to slowly recover in those markets.
Promising signs of recovery
King County, the home of Seattle, was one of the first U.S. markets hit by the pandemic and associated lockdowns. The last week has seen a slight uptick in activity, as measured by new listings coming to market. While new listings are still down 42 percent from early March, they are up 20 percent from last week.
The trend is similar in the surrounding counties; new listings are up 15-30 percent in Snohomish and Pierce Counties. New listings in Portland, which was affected later than Seattle, are still relatively flat.
The East Bay market, which was also affected early by the pandemic and lockdowns, is seeing a similar uptick in new listings: up 30 percent last week.
The trend is not consistent across all markets. New listing volumes in New York City are still bleak, down another 50 percent last week.
Strategic implications
As the earliest hit markets begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, consumer confidence in real estate is beginning to return. Real estate agents are adapting to the new environment and able to meet changing consumer needs. It’s likely this is the bottom; volumes are unlikely to get worse and will perhaps begin to improve.
Overall new listing volumes are still down significantly (as measured by yearly and weekly averages in the chart above). It will take several more weeks to fully determine if this is the bottom and possibly several months for new listing volumes to return to normal levels.
Mike DelPrete is a strategic adviser and global expert in real estate tech, including Zavvie, an iBuyer offer aggregator. Connect with him on LinkedIn.