The housing market isn’t collapsing. In fact it’s flourishing amid the pandemic.
Initially, the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 had a negative effect on the housing market in California, as well as the rest of the country, especially from March until the end of May. But as we approached Summer, prices started to climb again, for several reasons.
How does that make sense? Record-low mortgage rates and a drop in the inventory of homes for sale are two key reasons that help explain why house sales have made an upward inline in the summer months of 2020.
Additionally, in my opinion, many Californian’s have newfound importance about certain aspects of the homes in which they live. Now people are spending the majority of their time in their home, working at home, cooking all 3 meals in their kitchen, teaching their kids at a dining table, and exercising in their living room. There is now a need for a home office, a bigger kitchen to cook all those meals, a large garage or an extra room to make into a home gym, and maybe even a larger yard to stretch out at, to bbq and hangout for R&R. Some Multi story apartment renters and condo owners are now uncomfortable with possible virus exposure, getting into an elevator to get to their upper unit. Many people want to move from densely populated urban settings, to move to the suburbs where there’s more space. This has all caused in influx of first time homebuyers, as well as current homeowners, wanting to sell their smaller property to move up to a larger space that they envision being quarantined in. Even after the pandemic is over, you will see the stay-at-home orders having a permanent effect on Californians’ lifestyle and the values they have in their home.
Note: The MLS median price and sales data in the table below are generated from a survey of more than 90 associations of REALTORS® throughout the state, and represent statistics of existing single-family detached homes only. sales data are not adjusted to account for seasonal factors that can influence home sales. Movements in sales prices should not be interpreted as changes in the cost of a standard home. Median prices can be influenced by changes in cost, as well as changes in the characteristics and the size of homes sold. Due to the low sales volume in some areas, median price changes may exhibit unusual fluctuation. Date provided by the California Association of Realtors®.
