Within the past few months, the coronavirus has swept the nation and seemingly caused everything to come to a halt. Schools closed, jobs stopped, and markets crashed.
The stock market seems to be crashing too. Dow Jones Industrial Average crumbled by 445 points while the S&P 500 fell by more than 62 points. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq composite index declined by more than 122 points.
There is one aspect of the economy that many people aren’t thinking about: the housing market. Keep reading to learn about how COVID-19 has affected housing and what happened to the sales numbers.
What Happened to the Sales Numbers
The housing market was on the rise in February of 2020. This was directly before the coronavirus made its sweep on the nation.
The condition of the housing market wasn’t imperfect, but it was steady and increasing. This changed when the coronavirus became an imminent threat to the population.
With governments advising citizens to stay indoors, the room for housing market growth is decreasing. Very few people are going to choose to buy a new property in a time when they are being advised to stay in their current homes.
The Question Surrounding COVID-19
In order to understand how the housing market will react to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to understand how the housing market has reacted to past health crises.
Surprisingly, the housing market has rebounded well following previous illness outbreaks like COVID-19. This includes those areas that were hit hard.
The housing market’s future condition will depend on how harshly people are hit by the economic side-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. If people lose their jobs and/or their income as a result of the closings, they won’t be able to afford the moving process. This means that houses are not being bought or sold.
Obviously, everyone is being hit by these economic side-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in some way. However, those who work in or depend on the housing market should be worried about how quickly everyone will bounce back from the economic changes.
If you’re worried about your ability to buy or sell a house, you should contact your local real estate company like Joe Manausa Real Estate.
Solutions During Social Distancing
Many real estate agents and other housing experts are taking advantage of modern technological advances in communication.
Just like you can have your work meetings over video chat, real estate agents show houses over video chat. These solutions are helping the housing market stay somewhat mobilized during this time.
Looking Towards the Aftermath
Once the era of social distancing is over, the housing market is expected to make a comeback. If you’re personally concerned about buying or selling your home, you should get into contact with your local real estate expert.
The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the housing market, but there are alternatives that real estate experts have set in place. What happened to the sales numbers is that they went down, but they will rebound like previous pandemics.
For more on real estate, feel free to look around the rest of our blog.
