By Mike Sunnucks | Rose Law Group Reporter
The COVID-19 virus and its economic fallout have taken the wind out of consumer searches for real estate including home buying, according to new data from Pivot2Homes.com.
The question for the market is whether prospective home buyers spurred by record low mortgage interest rates after the Coronavirus and ramifications subside.
Pivot2 Homes (a real estate marketplace portal) analyzed its own data as well as for Google searches.
The real estate portal said has seen a 35 percent drop in web traffic to its site between March 9 and March 16. Google saw a 23 percent drop in searches for the term ‘real estate’ between March 6 and March 13.
Conversely, searches related to the Coronavirus and its impact on real estate have increased, according to the research.
The challenge for the market is when buyers (i.e. consumers) will get back to purchasing homes after the pandemic and the impacts of job losses and lingering uncertainty.
Record
low mortgage interest rates had been spurring on home buyers to start 2020.
“Interest rates remain low, continuing to adjust daily. This provides an opportunity for home buyers as well as those seeking to refinance. While some home buyers will be forced to delay a purchase due to employment gaps, most buyers who have simply placed their search on hold will likely resume home search activities quickly,” said Dean deTonnancourt, a veteran Realtor in Rhode Island.
