It is truly amazing how quickly the Columbus housing market has adjusted in March to the new normal. Home values keep rising despite of the uncertainty caused by COVID-19.
The Columbus Association of Realtors just came out with its March 2020 market update. It’s old news. As a reader of my weekly housing update you know what’s really going on in the real estate market right now.
The Inventory Hits Rock Bottom
Over the past 5 weeks many homeowners got scared and delayed listing their property. The number of new listings dropped by 30% when compared to 2019.
As a consequence, the inventory got decimated to only 3,076 homes for sale as of yesterday.
This chart compares new listings for each week ending at the date at the bottom of the chart. The red bars show this year’s new listings, the blue bars are 2019 numbers.
Buyers Are Coming Back Making Offers
For a few weeks in March showing requests have dropped substantially. Buyers did not know how to deal with social distancing while looking for a home.
Realtors quickly adjusted and adopted new safety measures so you can still look at houses – virtually and in real life – without being concerned about getting infected.
In the graphic below you can see how showing request have increased in the last 2 weeks (orange line shows 2020 numbers).
Pending Contracts are Catching Up
While sellers are holding off, buyers are out in full force. We are still in a seller’s market for homes below $350,000.
After dropping for a few weeks, pending contracts have caught up with last year’s numbers. That’s a good indication that sales will be strong in May and June.
Recommendations for Buyers & Sellers
With all the uncertainty this may not seem like a good time to list or buy.
The opposite is true. This is actually a great time to be in the market.
This crisis is not a result of the housing market or the mortgage industry. There was a huge demand for housing before the COVID-19 pandemic started. Many of these buyers are still looking. However, their selection is extremely limited due to the lack of inventory.
If you considered listing your home this year, I strongly recommend you call me, and we put it on the market. Home values are up by 10% compared to last year, and they are likely not going any lower.
March 2020 Housing Stats
The latest Housing Stats confirm a slowdown of the market in the middle of March.
Click this link to see detailed March 2020 Housing Data.
Here are the highlights (numbers compared to the same month a year ago):
- Closed Transactions – 2,431 – UP by 11.8%
- Pending Contracts – 3,039 – DOWN by 7.2%
- Inventory for Sale – 3,405 – DOWN by 6.1%
- New Listings – 3,086 – DOWN by 4.4%
- Days on Market – 41 – DOWN by 2.4%
- Average Sales Price – $255,337 – UP by 10.0%
Stay Safe! If you need any help in or outside of real estate call or text me at (614) 975-9650