Buy, Sell, or Wait? Covid-19 and the North Shore Real Estate Market
WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
Clearly the coronavirus quarantine and safety concerns are having a direct impact on the local real estate market.
There have been many North Shore homes taken off the market but the great majority are still for sale. Home sellers that have kept their homes on the market are implementing changes to their listings such as requesting that the agent and buyers are healthy, they use hand sanitizer, not touch any surfaces, and remove shoes.
There are currently (as of Tuesday, March 24) 372 homes for sale in Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glencoe, and Northfield. There were 57 cancellations of home listings since March 1 - which is 15% of the market. If you include the 27 homes listed as “temporarily no showings” then it increases to 22% of homes taken off the market.
It’s certainly true that concerns over a recession and unsteady financial markets will make some buyers skittish. Showing Time, the online appointment service that agents use, reported that activity has fallen off for the same period in 2019.
BUT NONE OF THIS MEANS THAT YOU CAN’T
BUY OR SELL A HOUSE
In Governor Pritzker’s Executive Order Number 10, real estate is an essential business and will be allowed to continue. People need homes to live in even in the most uncertain times.
THE NORTH SHORE REAL ESTATE MARKET
DURING COVID-19
- In my office alone, sales have included a $4 million Winnetka home, several over $1 million, and a half-dozen under $1 million. The North Shore currently has 126 homes total that are under contract. Of those, more than half, 64, have gone under contract since March 1. So the good news is that at this moment homes are selling on pace. For how much longer before the virus catches up to us?
- While open houses have not been banned, the National Association of Realtors has strongly suggested that they be avoided. I am planning “virtual open houses” for one of my listings that is vacant. I’ll take a video and post it on social media.
- Showings of homes can continue with everyone’s cooperation. For my showings, I am offering virtual tours or will FaceTime clients that would like me to “walk” them through a house.
- Many real estate boards (including CAR, the Chicago Association of Realtors,) have prepared a “Covid-19 Addendum to Purchase and Sale Contract.” It essentially allows for the postponement of closing, or cancellation of sale due to issues with the virus.
- Mortgage rates are low, potentially creating a stimulus for buyers to purchase, but they’ve now been low for a long time. Buyers tend to postpone big purchases during uncertain times and Bloomberg reported today that home-purchase applications dropped 14.6% last week (March 16-20.)
- Since the U.S. depends on China for construction materials, it’s expected that new construction will slow. New or newer homes on the North Shore have generally sold quickly.
- According to RCLCO (Real Estate Advisors), “the impacts on real estate broadly will be moderate overall. . .” This may not pan out in Illinois or the North Shore however, as we’re still troubled by high inventory and property taxes.
- The wild card in our midst - Covid 19 - still has unknown ramifications for the housing market. If its impact is prolonged and the quarantine becomes more strict, it will put a damper on the market. If it’s over quickly, our spring market could pick up where it left off.
NEXT STEPS
Deciding to buy, sell, or wait is your personal choice of course. Buyers may find some good values if they are looking now. For sellers, the lower inventory will work in your favor. Should this end sooner than later, the market will be flooded with homes.
We’re all frazzled to be stuck home, some with small children, during this shelter at home period. This situation won’t last forever and our forced “vacations” will be a thing of the past.
We survived the recession crisis of 2008 and we’ll get through this. If you’re not home with children, there is always some do-it-yourself projects that need to be finished, documents or photos that need to be sorted, or just spacing out and binging on Netflix. And who hasn't taken long walks lately?
I’m working from home and keeping up with the changes in the local real estate market. Please let me know if you have any concerns or questions. I’ll keep you all updated in email format as things evolve.
In the meantime, relax a moment and enjoy the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra play the fourth movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony while practicing social distancing.
Keeping it light for now:
Denmark’s solution to the hoarding of hand santiziers
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Margaret Goss is a full-time real estate broker since 1998 working in the North Shore communities of Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glencoe, Northfield, Glenview, and Evanston.
She can be reached at:
Phone: 847-977-6024
Email: margaret.goss@bairdwarner.com
See her full BIOGRAPHY
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