Covid-19 has undoubtedly changed the real estate market in cities all across the United States. In years past, the market would always experience highs and lows. Typically, the spring market would kick off anytime from early February to early March depending upon what region of the country you lived in and it would last through June. This is because a standard closing on a house can take 60-90 days in some cases.
What Is Attributing To The Change In The Real Estate Market?
Since Covid-19 the entire house buying and selling process has been expedited. Lenders are able to work virtually and houses are now closing in 30 days or less. Why is this happening? One theory is the fact that in 2008 when the market crashed, a lot of people had to foreclose on their houses and turn to renting. Over the years they have been able to acquire a hefty savings account which has allowed for them to make cash offers on houses. Banks also want to stop foreclosure and are offering more mortgage forgiveness throughout this pandemic.
As soon as houses hit the market, many buyers are ready with cash deals to purchase. This entire process makes the closing more much expedited. In some cases, people are purchasing and moving into houses in two weeks or less if the house is already vacant.
Why are people moving so much?
There has been a surge of people leaving their city dwellings and moving out to the suburbs. With the uptick in remote work there is no need to pay hefty mortgages or rental fees to live close to work anymore. In many cases, moving to the suburbs or more rural areas is allowing people to actually save more. The monthly expenses are exponentially cheaper and the individuals are not having to worry about commute time. Children are remote learning so schooling is less of a factor.
What About Schooling?
Schooling has always been a driving factor for parents seeking homes to raise their children in. With remote learning paving the way in the education sector; parents feel less inclined to stick to the standard spring real estate market. Previously, parents would wait until the spring to search the market for a new home to move to. They did not want to disrupt their children’s education and move them at the end of a school year. Now, the transition is much easier. In some cases, children are even allowed to continue remote learning with their existing school until the move is completed. Awkward introductions to new classmates and learning a way around a new building for only a few short weeks is now a thing of the past. Children are simply given a new district laptop for the school district they move into and continue on with remote learning. With schooling concerns eliminated from the moving decision, parents are seeking new family dwellings year-round.
Buying Has Never Been Easier
In the past people would acquire a real estate agent, set up appointments and schedule time off of work to go tour houses. This has become a thing of the past, now you can sell your house without an agent. Now with the surge of coronavirus only absolutely serious buyers are welcomed into homes. Agents are posting online virtual tours of the homes as they hit the market. Potential buyers can now view pictures, see drone footage of the property and take a virtual tour of each room. Once they have narrowed down their search to only a few houses they can then schedule appointments to view only those. Buyers no longer have to see dozens of houses in a weekend. The virtual information gives them a detailed picture and now they only need to inspect the house for minor details the pictures and video clips may not have shown. This makes narrowing down the choice much easier.
Houses are selling much faster, the house hunting process has become something that can be done from the comfort of your own living room and the house buying and selling season has become year-round as opposed to just during the hot spring market months. Covid-19 has changed the real estate market for the better in many ways.
Infographic provided by Master Movers, a Venice, FL moving company
