COVID HAS ONLY INCREASED MARKET PRICESS!!!

[Anne Williams]

Greetings BP Family,

I remember when the Corona Pandemic first began, there was so much talk about all the opportunities to come, the lowering of housing prices, the sea of foreclosures to come ect....Quite Contrarily, Ive noticed that it has only made things worst and more competitive for buyers, once again giving the power to the seller.

Some observations:

Prices have gone up- I saw a house that was listed two months ago in probably a F class neighborhood relisted for 25,000 more this week

There was already low inventory, so now that there are even less homes for purchase...folks may have to fight over the few available

Auctions are suspended so this is one less route to explore. Plus that means again less houses to put on the market because now investors can't go to bid on properties to fix and flip.

I pray this doesn't carry on too much longer. I am looking in North New Jersey. Is anyone else experiencing any of this?

[Jeff Copeland]

Similar trends are unfolding in many markets nationwide. 

In the short run, many buyers pulled out of the market (which would normally mean a reduction in prices based on supply and demand, all else being equal). However, even more sellers pulled out of the market, keeping inventory very tight and propping up prices. 

Recent statistics in my market suggest everything was down, except for: 1) prices, and 2) inventory (which has started to creep up). That's an odd snapshot, because you wouldn't normally expect prices and inventory to increase at the same time. 

What does it all mean? No one really knows. You only have to look at the stock market to confirm that things are strange and unpredictable right now. 

That being said, real estate is a slow moving beast. Any inputs from 90 days ago are only just starting to show up in market statistics, and all of the components are there to suggest we'll see stagnant, or even softening, prices in the next 6-18 months, in some markets. 

And an uptick in foreclosures from recent events could still be coming, but is still months or years away. 

This will all play out over the next 2-4 years, not the next 2-4 months.