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<\/p>\nThe coronavirus outbreak remains a rapidly moving target. To keep tabs on this fast-changing environment and how real estate is holding up during these times, HomeLight is issuing a biweekly Flash Poll (sent out every other Wednesday morning) to top real estate agents across the country to see how their business is faring and to track reports from their local housing markets. We’ll release the poll results the following Thursday morning after agents are surveyed, so check back for updates.<\/p>\n
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Three months after coronavirus lockdown began, and in the midst of experimentation across the nation with reopening the economy, an acute supply shortage is swinging the housing market pendulum firmly in the court of sellers. According to data from our latest Flash Poll, agent reports of a seller\u2019s market now exceed pre-pandemic levels, reaching 79% in June and marking a 65% increase from April 15.<\/p>\n
It appears existing homes and new homes are playing into the lack of inventory. On the one hand, U.S. housing starts fell 30% in April, a 5-year low<\/a>, the Commerce Department reported. In addition, agents report that while risk of infection by the virus is the top concern for 30% of sellers (who aren\u2019t necessarily keen on the idea of having strangers in their home), the same is true for only 6% of buyers.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, 80% of agents say buyer activity has increased in the past two weeks. This could in part explain why 60% agents believe a lack of supply to meet demand will be the biggest challenge to the 2020 housing market, and only 20% say they\u2019re more worried about coronavirus uncertainty.<\/p>\n Despite the equilibrium of the market being a little out of whack (in favor of home prices continuing to rise), real estate agents say business continues to pick up and optimism among the industry\u2019s leading professionals remains strong.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a summary of our latest data:<\/p>\n The percent of agents reporting that business is growing despite current circumstances doubled in the past two weeks.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n In line with previous weeks’ trends, agents estimate that more sellers than buyers remain on the sidelines due to coronavirus.<\/strong><\/p>\n June 10 \u2014 Agents estimate that:<\/p>\n May 27 \u2013 Agents estimate that:<\/p>\n May 13 \u2013 Agents estimate that:<\/p>\n April 29 \u2013 Agents estimate that:<\/p>\n April 15 \u2013 Agents estimate that:<\/p>\n More buyers have resumed their real estate plans than sellers.<\/strong><\/p>\n As of June 10, 2020, buyers who hit pause are generally:<\/p>\n As of June 10, 2020, sellers who hit pause are generally:<\/p>\n Reports of a \u201cseller\u2019s market\u201d rose 13% from two weeks ago, suggesting that buyer demand is outpacing supply at an increasing rate.<\/strong><\/p>\n Restricted supply is also pushing up home prices. The number agents who say prices are on the rise in their market increased 29% compared to two weeks ago.<\/strong><\/p>\n On the decline<\/p>\n Holding steady<\/p>\n On the rise<\/p>\n To be clear, sellers are still listing at in higher volumes than they were during lockdown. Only 9% of agents have seen seller activity in their market continue to decline in the past two weeks. Compare that to the week of April 15, when 78% of agents reported a decline in seller activity.<\/strong><\/p>\n Over 90% of agents say that in the past two weeks, they haven\u2019t seen any sellers take their homes off the market.<\/strong><\/p>\n Virtually all agents continue to see a rise in buyer activity.<\/strong><\/p>\n And few buyers who recently started their search have hit pause in June.<\/strong><\/p>\n The demand for virtual tours appears to have peaked mid-April, now that buyers, sellers, and agents are more familiar with cleaning procedures and protocols for traditional showings in this environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n Agent optimism is holding steady and remains above Q4 2019 levels.<\/strong><\/p>\n Percent of agents optimistic about the 2020 housing market:<\/p>\n *Respondents were surveyed between May 10-15, 2020, with 679 real estate agents participating nationwide.<\/em><\/p>\n Agent-reported real estate data for the end of May continued to move in a dramatically positive direction, results from our latest market pulse survey show. Optimism in the profession surpassed Q4 2019 levels, the percent of those who say their business is growing nearly tripled over April, and as few as 3% of agents across the country report that buyer activity is on the decline (compared to 78% on the 1st of April). Talk about a major turn of events.<\/p>\n A few questions remain, however, about the longevity of this market rebound. Considering that 66% of agents report that buyer activity is primarily being driven by pent-up demand from earlier this spring, it\u2019s unclear whether the appetite to move will hold strong after these buyers settle into the homes they planned to buy several months ago. Although 90% of agents believe that low mortgage interest rates continue to boost buyer demand, the implementation of stricter lending standards could act as a counterbalance to the appeal of an attractive mortgage.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also the buyer-seller equilibrium to take into account. Currently, it appears buyer demand is bouncing back quicker than seller activity. During the week of May 27, 55% of agents reported an increase in seller activity, while 79% reported the same among buyers. Meanwhile, bidding wars are cropping up again: 65% of agents say that bidding wars are on the rise, up 2 percentage points from February (which was the peak of market momentum and agent optimism, prior to May). Clearly a lack of supply is only fueling competition as energy on the buy side surges.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a summary of our latest numbers:<\/p>\n For the first time since the coronavirus outbreak, a majority (58%) of agents report that business is normal or growing.<\/strong><\/p>\n Buyer and seller dropout rates continue to decline.<\/strong><\/p>\n May 27 \u2013 Agents estimate that:<\/p>\n May 13 \u2013 Agents estimate that:<\/p>\n April 29 \u2013 Agents estimate that:<\/p>\n April 15 \u2013 Agents estimate that:<\/p>\n Buyers and sellers are more likely to be starting to resume their plans than they were a few weeks ago.<\/strong><\/p>\n As of May 27, 2020, sellers who hit pause are generally:<\/p>\n As of May 27, 2020, buyers who hit pause are generally:<\/p>\n Reports of a \u201cseller\u2019s market\u201d rose 19% from two weeks ago, suggesting that buyer demand is outpacing supply at an increasing rate.<\/strong><\/p>\n Home prices haven\u2019t been impacted negatively by the coronavirus pandemic \u2014 yet. In fact, the number of agents who say prices are on the rise increased 81% compared to two weeks ago.<\/strong><\/p>\n On the decline<\/p>\n Holding steady<\/p>\n On the rise<\/p>\n Only 13% of agents have seen seller activity in their market continue to decline. Compare that to the week of April 15, when 78% of agents reported a decline in seller activity.<\/strong><\/p>\n Over 85% of agents say that in the past two weeks, they haven\u2019t seen any sellers take their homes off the market.<\/strong><\/p>\n Virtually all agents are seeing a rise in buyer activity.<\/strong><\/p>\n And few buyers who recently started their search have hit pause in May.<\/strong><\/p>\n The demand for virtual tours appears to have peaked mid-April, now that buyers, sellers, and agents are more familiar with cleaning procedures and protocols for traditional showings in this environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n Agent optimism has now surpassed Q4 2019 levels. Percent of agents optimistic about the 2020 housing market:<\/p>\n *Respondents were surveyed between May 26-31, 2020, with 661 real estate agents participating nationwide.<\/em><\/p>\n After a frigid start to spring, the housing market is showing signs of life once again. According to our latest Flash Poll of nearly 1,000 agents across the country, the real estate business is picking up steam, agent optimism is nearly back to Q4 2019 levels, and home prices remain isolated from the economic havoc wrought by the coronavirus \u2014 at least for now.<\/p>\n March brought a vampire tooth dip in agent sentiment, market strength, and real estate activity on both the buy and sell sides. April muddled along as Americans stumbled in the pitch black. May\u2019s data indicates many have picked up a flashlight and shined it toward a way forward. Whether that\u2019s through the safety of virtual showings or with masks and the social distance practices, it\u2019s in the name of navigating a new world.<\/p>\n Are we out of the woods with smooth sailing ahead?<\/p>\n Impossible to say (and doubtful when you look at the alarming unemployment figures). But you can’t deny that the data trends at least in the real estate sphere look a lot better than they did.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a summary of our latest numbers:<\/p>\n Reports of “slower than normal business” improve for the first time since the outbreak.<\/strong><\/p>\n Our data showed the percent of agents who say their business is growing despite current circumstances nearly doubled over the past few weeks. For the first time since we started asking this question in April, there was a drop in agents who said business was slower than normal, as more agents moved into the “steady” or “growing” camps.<\/p>\n Buyer and seller dropout rates continue to decline.<\/strong><\/p>\n May 13 \u2013 Agents estimate that:<\/p>\n April 29 \u2013 Agents estimate that:<\/p>\n April 15 \u2013 Agents estimate that:<\/p>\n Buyers and sellers are more likely to be starting to resume their plans than they were a few weeks ago.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n As of mid-May, agents report that sellers who hit pause due to coronavirus are generally:<\/p>\n Buyers who hit pause are: Reports of a \u201cseller\u2019s market\u201d rose 7 percentage points, indicating that the market is regaining some of the strength it lost in March and April.<\/strong><\/p>\n Home prices haven\u2019t been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, the percent of agents who say prices are on the rise has more than tripled from April to May.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n On the decline<\/strong><\/p>\n Holding steady\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n On the rise<\/strong><\/p>\n Over the past two weeks, only 21% of agents have seen seller activity in their market continue to decline, a huge improvement over March and April.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For-sale signs are staying up. <\/strong>The percent of agents who\u2019ve said they\u2019ve seen sellers take their homes off the market over the past two weeks dropped by a third compared to declines seen since the coronavirus outbreak first intensified. <\/strong><\/p>\n Drastically fewer agents are saying they\u2019ve seen buyer activity decline in the past two weeks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n And very few buyers who recently started their search have hit pause in May.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n As fewer agents note a continued demand for virtual tours, it appears people are becoming more comfortable with traditional showings again, albeit with precautions like masks and thorough cleanings.<\/strong><\/p>\n Once tempered-optimism among agents is strengthening into full-fledged optimism.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/What-do-you-believe-will-be-the-biggest-challenge-to-the-2020-housing-market_-1-1.png\")
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Week of May 27, 2020: Buyer demand is back<\/h2>\n
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Week of May 13, 2020: A rebound afoot?<\/h2>\n
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