By Jeff Andrews | Curbed
More than 38 million Americans have lost their jobs since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay-at-home orders have ground much of the economy to a halt, prompting trillions in stimulus spending by the federal government in hopes of keeping industries afloat.
But anyone hoping a silver lining to the economic chaos would be deals in the housing market have thus far been disappointed; for the week ending May 9, the median listing price in the United States was up 1.4 percent year-over-year, according to Realtor.com. Existing home sales in April fell by almost 18 percent, but prices rose 7.4 percent compared to a year ago.
Why isn’t the tanking economy bringing home prices down with it? It’s a reasonable question given that so much of the economy moves in lockstep, and the last economic crisis in 2008 sent the housing market into free fall.
“With housing supply in check in the Phoenix area, would be home buyers are more likely to save a few bucks on their mortgage payment by buying at todays prices with a low mortgage rate rather than hoping for lower prices and similar rates tomorrow. Prices are unlikely to fall because supply is not expected to rise anytime soon, and no one knows where ultra low rates are headed later this year.” ~ Jim Belfiore, Real Estate Consultant at Belfiore Real Estate Consulting
