We know you’ve already received a plethora of emails from other companies regarding the current health crisis and the steps they are taking to mitigate the spread. We didn’t want to unnecessarily add to the flood of emails, but as many have been asking about the possible effect on the real estate market, we thought it important to address this.
Will the coronavirus situation impact the real estate market? This is a definitive YES. How significant this impact will be obviously depends on how long this goes and how severe it gets. Already, we have buyers who are delaying their home search due to financial concerns (stock market losses, job instability, increased financial burdens, possibly needing to provide aid to relatives) as well as sellers who are hesitant about strangers coming through their homes or concerned that the reduction of interested buyers may hurt their home prices. Just today, we had one transaction that was set to close escrow but is delayed indefinitely because the county of Santa Clara abruptly decided to close the Recorder’s Office until further notice. (Yes, this means no sales can close in the entire county until they figure out what to do!) By the time you read this, San Mateo & San Francisco may follow suit.
This comes at a time when we usually expect to have our most activity – the “hot spring selling season.” As noted in the charts below, median sale prices for both San Mateo & Santa Clara county experienced double-digit appreciation on both a year-over-year and month-over-month basis in February (with the exception of condos/townhomes in Santa Clara), and inventory levels are between 1-1.7 in all categories, indicating a solid seller’s market. We were definitely seeing multiple offer situations everywhere with some homes being sold way over asking and beyond what comps might have indicated. All indications were for strong market activity and increasing prices, but of course, this is before the coronavirus situation became an issue in our area.
At the same time, there are people who still need or want to sell their home and those who still want to buy a home or investment property, which is looking more attractive compared to the volatile stock market. We continue to have low mortgage rates, which helps incentivize buyers, while inventory levels are low as well. Knowing this, it’s very possible we’ll continue to see fair activity (though somewhat subdued) and if the coronavirus situation is contained within the next month or so, may just see a shift of the usual strong selling season to later in the year, possibly into the summer.
Whatever the case, we would like to invite you to please let us know if we can be of help in any way, even if not real estate related. I’m involved in my neighborhood’s Nextdoor network, and it’s been amazing to see neighbors stepping up to help each other, volunteering to go shopping or run errands, even offering extra bottles of hand sanitizer. If you find yourself in need or know someone who could just use a friendly phone call or check-in, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Also, if you’re bored at home and need something to watch, be sure to check out our Perisson Youtube channel, as we have our seminar and listing videos posted there and are planning to do the ADU seminar for March online as well.
In the meantime, we’ll continue sending out these monthly email updates and keep you posted on the state of the real estate market in our area. As always, don’t hesitate to email or call us with any specific real estate questions or needs you may have.
Wishing you and your loved ones good health and abundance always!
February 2020 Market Update
