I read something this morning that made me raise my eyebrow. The article questioned what inside information prime minister of Britain has about the Coronavirus. On one hand he warned Britons to prepare “to lose loved ones before their time.” On the other hand it is business as usual in the UK for the time being, while the rest of the world is shutting down schools, implementing travel bans, enforcing curfews, and banning large-scale gatherings in an effort to prevent the spreading of the disease. The British government is considering stopping mass gatherings starting later this week. The author questions if Boris Johnson believes that the crisis may not peak until 14 weeks for now and he recognizes that people will not be able to or willing to drastically change their way of life for nearly three months.
Three months?! How does that affect you in your line of work? Like most real estate agents just starting out I currently work two jobs. Schools are currently closed until March 30th. This provides me extra time to work on my real estate career, but I’m finding the coronavirus is changing that plan. For example some continuing education classes I planned on attending during spring break have already been cancelled. Our local real estate investing group has also cancelled all meetings until further notice.
One of the biggest hits to the real estate market due to the coronavirus will be to new construction. According to The National Association of Home Builders nearly a third of home building materials come from China. That doesn’t even take into account finishing items like sinks, bathtubs, and appliances. It could take some time for China to get back on their feet and start exporting these items again.
The corona-virus is causing fewer home buyers to search for homes and agents are reporting an increase in delayed listings. It has been reported that there is an 11% decrease in buyer traffic and a 7% decrease in seller traffic. Agents are forced with coming up with creative ways to conduct business such as virtual video chat tours of homes, electronic closings, offering to meet clients at a home instead of carpooling, and alternative greetings to handshakes.
If you were planning on selling or buying before the outbreak hit, don’t let it deter you. It is still a great time to buy. Interest rates are at an all-time low and there are currently great houses available on the market. You might be the only person looking and making offers, which may fetch you an amazing deal. You will be looking and making offers when nobody else is. And if you are like me, and off of work for the foreseeable future, you could possibly use this time to declutter and get your house ready to sell.
Hopefully social distancing slows the outbreak and we all can get back to business as usual sooner, rather than later, and with as little impact to our wallets and sanity as possible.