Just like every part of our lives, the real estate industry has certainly felt the impact of COVID-19. The BC government has deemed real estate and all associated industries (ie. Lawyers, notaries, inspectors, land title office) as essential services, which means that business can carry on, but with many precautionary measures to be taken. I have made sure to have “3D Virtual Tours” for any of my listings during this time and I am encouraging my buyer clients to take virtual tours before viewing any homes. If we do view any homes together, we are taking things very seriously and gloves and masks are worn for everyone’s protection. Home inspection services are still happening, but inspectors are not meeting clients at the house as they normally would, as they are doing the inspections with themselves being present and no one else.

Although March 2020 finished with some strong numbers for the total number of sales, there is no doubt whatsoever that the recent COVID-19 crisis is having an effect on the market.  Historically, a strong March almost always means that April will be a busy month for realtors as well, but with the recommendation to self isolate coming in the middle of March, we have seen activity hit the brakes.
March 2020 processed a total of 1,364 sales, up from both March 2019’s 1,153 sales and February 2020’s 1,251 sales.  The catch is that the vast majority of these sales happened in the first week of March, and the activity began to fall after.

To give some perspective on how things are looking for April so far, the numbers are down significantly when adjusted for the 7 out of 20 working days at the time of writing this. April 2020 has only 492 new listings and 264 sales. March 2020, after 7 business days had 1040 new listings and 505 sales and April 2019, after 7 business days had 1,221 new listings and 432 sales.

So what do these numbers mean, and how will this affect prices? While it is still early on and we really do not have any historical events to compare our current situation to, it does not appear that prices are being affected in either direction. There are simply less homes for sale than usual which is causing low inventory. Supply is low and while demand is certainly lower than normal for the springtime, it is not as low as our inventory is, and that is causing prices to remain stable and possibly even increase in the short term.

How does this impact you if you were planning on making a move in the near future? We can certainly proceed with listing your home and searching for your next home, but make sure that you understand the risks associated with having buyers come through your home. We do our best to screen anyone coming into your home. Many people think that there will be deals to be had by searching during the current situation, but I have yet to see that happen, as I mentioned earlier, inventory is very low, so good homes are still selling.

Just like always, your situation is unique to you, so let me know what your thoughts are and I will do everything I can to make your next move go as smoothly as possible!