With last week’s tornados, it seems that more and more factors are impacting the way our friends and families live their lives. And these factors are sure to have an impact on the housing market.
Is COVID-19 having an impact on home sales? Of course. To help understand what the full extent is, we turn to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) March 2020 Existing Home Sales Report. As we drill down into the regional numbers, we see that existing-home sales in the southern U.S. dropped 9.1% to an annual rate of 2.29 million in March. But even this short-term decrease is up 0.9% from the same time one year ago.
While these numbers aren’t great, the market in our region of the country is much better off than in other areas. Existing-home sales in the western U.S. fell 13.6% to an annual rate of 1.08 million in March, a 0.9% decline from a year ago.
Home sales are a critical part of understanding housing. However, to get a more complete view, there is more to look at for housing’s overall picture. For example, the median homes sales price in the south was $245,100, which is a 7.5% increase from a year ago. This shows that housing prices are holding steady and even increasing.
According to these NAR statistics, 43% of March’s home sales were in the southern part of the United States, compared to 12% of the northeast, and 21% of the west.
Ok, so these numbers are meaningful, but what about just the greater Chattanooga area? Well, for the week ending April 11, nearly 200 homes were sold. For the same week in 2019, there were 242 homes pending purchase. That means that people are still looking to buy, and they’re looking to buy here in the greater Chattanooga area.
But what really stands out is the decrease in housing inventory. It’s apparent that some people are simply not able to put their houses on the market right now with the current market conditions. As of the week of April 11, there was a 35% reduction in the amount of houses for sale in our market over the same point in 2019.
Increased selling prices and decreased inventory; so what does this mean? It means that if you have the ability to put your home on the market, that it will get attention. LOTS of attention. And likely to get a good price.
This national, regional, and local housing information shows that we are likely to see the impacts on housing activity for at least a few more months. Of course as Realtors we all must follow the CDC’s recommended guidelines for social distancing when conducting business. Not doing so jeopardizes our ability to continue to operate as an essential business during COVID-19. But one thing is certain; real estate is still happening.