In Texas, home sales plummeted — then began rebounding.
In Pennsylvania, real estate professionals have been raring to go back to work.
And in New York — the state suffering the most dire impacts during the coronavirus pandemic — agents are busy, but facing the challenge of low inventory.
All of which is to say that the COVID-19 outbreak has unfolded differently in different parts of the country. To better understand its varied impacts, Inman has been building market snapshots of different states. Each piece looks at both the status of the pandemic in a given jurisdiction, as well as what it has done to the local market. All told, the market snapshots feature interviews with dozens of real estate professionals. And while their experiences are unique, collectively their comments reveal a landscape that has suffered real turmoil — but which may also be on its way to recovery.
This is our landing page for all of our market snapshots. Click through to read the full reports. We’ll also do our best to keep all the numbers in these posts updated, but if you see something that should be added, please let us know.
Louisiana
“It feels like things started changing, like a switch was flipped, the first week of May. It was similar to the feeling we get in mid January when people come out of the holiday slumber.”
— Scott Gaspard, senior Realtor partner at RE/MAX First in Baton Rouge
New York
“The remarkable thing is, yes, deals are happening. It’s way off from what it has been and it’s way off from what it was a year ago. But it’s not zero and that’s gratifying.”
— Steven James, president and CEO of Douglas Elliman’s New York City brokerage
Massachusetts
“If anything, what I’ve seen that’s been affected the most, is the inventory, without a doubt. That combination of the rates being low and the inventory being low, that’s keeping the market pretty strong.”
— Bob Ciccarelli, broker and owner of Ciccarelli Homes in Lowell
Buildings in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts Credit: Aubrey Rose Odom on Unsplash
Pennsylvania
We’re seeing a lot of purchases done through virtual tours sight unseen… at list price, [in] some cases, even above.”
— Anthony Leone, agent at RE/MAX Select Realty in Pittsburg
Illinois
“Personally, I had six deals cancel and fall out of contract because of COVID-19, and that was within the last four to six weeks, but… I have seen quite a bit of uptick in activity and put three listings on the market in the last week.”
— Hayley Westhoff, broker at Compass and the McPherson Westhoff Group in Chicago
Chicago. Credit: Pedro Lastra, Unsplash
Florida
“The vast majority of people you see in this time are nervous. The reality is that we’re independent contractors… In Florida, independent contractors still don’t have access to filing for unemployment… So that is a huge concern.”
— Lisa Jackson, agent at Century 21 Selling Paradise in Cape Coral
Texas
“Buyers seem to come in two categories right now: Those that aren’t concerned in the least bit and are moving forward full-steam ahead, and those that are too reluctant that the economy may suffer for quite some time.”
— Kasey Dalby, agent at Keller Williams’ Dalby Home Team in Austin
Dallas. Credit: Matthew T Rader, Unsplash
Wisconsin
“The people that I’m talking to are hopeful that this thing is going to pass. And I think it will, it’s just a matter of when.”
— Brett Hansen, agent at Stark Homes in Madison
Washington
“The biggest challenges that we’re seeing are on the mortgage side, the financing. We’ve had a couple of transactions where there’s a jumbo loan involved. We had one client who got furloughed on Friday.”
— Kristen Meyer, managing broker at Sweet Living Real Estate in Seattle
Pike Place Market in Seattle. Credit: Sabine Ojeil, Unsplash
California
“We don’t have anyone already under contract of sale who has decided to not continue with the purchase over general fear over the state of affairs. Traffic is down — there are not many people out and about — so we’ve pivoted across all properties to fully virtual walk-throughs.”
— Dan Faina, Southern California division president of Williams Homes in Santa Clarita
Bonus snapshots: U.S. luxury markets
Part 1
“We are doing business and we’re taking listings. We’re signing up buyers and just getting it done. Just not in the volumes we normally have.”
— Tania Gonda, broker at Weichert Realtors in Ashburn, Virginia
Part 2
“I would anticipate in the next month or two the numbers jumping back up and things getting back to normal. As long as interest rates stay at or under three and a half and we continue to open back up, it’s going to be a great market.”
— Tim Davis, CEO-Managing Broker, Weichert Realtors-Professionals, Douglas County, Colorado
Updated: May 23, 12:50 a.m. EDT
Updated: May 19, 12:25 p.m. EDT