New Home Sales Are Blazing!

For new home builders, June was an excellent month, according to the research. New home sales were up almost 14%, an increase of 7% over last year. Yes, low mortgage rates baited homebuyers, but the main drive was to move out of the city and into rural America. It was in the Northeast where new home sales boomed to most, almost 90% increase overall. New home sales in the Northeast in May 2020 were over 111% over the same month last year.

Existing Home Sales Are Heated Up Too!

New Homes are the only part of the real estate market that is blazing hot. According to the real estate analysts, this summer is scorching hot in the real estate world. Over 60% of the loan volume has been refinancing, and existing home purchase applications were at 32%. That is over a 25% increase from May to June. The 2020 summer real estate market overall has been remarkable, according to the experts on the real estate and hard money lenders in the industry.

The Downside to the Real Estate Industry

The short-term rental business isn’t doing as well. Because fewer people, and we mean a lot fewer people, are hopping on a plan and booking an Airbnb or hotel rooms, which reflects on the short-term rental business. Short-term rental hosts and their customer base are looking for solutions to the cancellations that the coronavirus has created. What was looking to be a busy summer for 2020, Airbnb owners are refunding would-be vacationers the full prepaid rental amounts. Owners of these properties have taken a substantial loss of revenue, affecting them being able to make their mortgage payments. Downside: That passive income many have grown to depend on is not what they had anticipated. Upside: This news will probably result in listing opportunities for realtors, so what is one person’s misery could be another person’s fortune.

Face Masks Aren’t the Only Fast Selling Item

According to Zillow, the middle of July saw homes selling almost as fast as face masks, hand sanitizers, and toilet paper. The fastest rate that Zillow has recorded. Sellers were getting multiple offers making short the “days on the market” around two weeks. With that good news for sellers, that’s not so good for buyers. That shrinks the housing inventory. For realtors, that’s good news because it got anyone on the fence about selling off the fence and motivated.

Is that a listing in your back pocket?

Not if you’re an upstanding real estate agent that follows NAR rules. Top Agent Network agents and brokers took the CAR, NAR, and San Francisco Association of Realtors to court. A lot of real estate experts that belong to NAR feel the policy is anti-competitive. That policy was put into effect on May 1, 2020, “Clear Cooperation Policy” has driven some MLSs to enforce it with hefty fines. The federal district court denied a bid from TAN, so holding pocket listings is forbidden still … for now.

Two Months Can Make A Difference

Over 60% of the folks thought that right now was a great time to buy a house, creating a 32% jump between April and June, according to real estate experts. Google trending agreed with this too. When it was surveyed renters, almost 70% said they would consider buying. Maybe it is time for realtors to turn their lead generating tactics toward renters?

Is 2020 Going To See A 2008 Repeat?

Over 800,000 homes were foreclosed on in 2008, creating a Great Recession. Some experts are concerned that 2020, or the next few years, could see another Great Recession. In April of this year, Google Trending started showing an increase in searches with “eviction” and “foreclosure” on the west coast. That’s is the same time that delinquencies were higher than the last recession. Many of the homeowners with loans backed by the government are in forbearance. Other homeowners without that government-backed loan are scrambling for other recourses, like selling before foreclosure is their reality.

Keep Safe Folks!

In the meantime, for realtors, as you’re waiting out the COVID-19 pandemic to end, or at least calm down, there is plenty to stay busy with, like nurturing your real estate business, maybe? Consider real estate news, contact Real estate marketing expert Richard Uzelac at 805.413.7888 and see how RealtyTech team can help.