How is the coronavirus affecting North Carolina’s real estate industry?
By: Seth Palmer | Director of Regulatory Affairs and External Communications
While this article is intended to provide a perspective related to the title question, the bigger response is that this is still an evolving situation and one that we may not have a full picture of until weeks or months from now.
NC REALTORS® staff and leadership continue to follow and address issues arising within the industry both across the state, as well as across the country.
This article will be updated as new information becomes available.
How coronavirus is impacting the housing market (Curbed.com)
This article provides a comprehensive look at a variety of different perspectives on the impact of the current situation on the housing market, both from the supply side and from the buyer side. Here are a couple of key points:
- Zillow conducted a study on housing during previous pandemics and concluded that while home sales dropped dramatically during the pandemic, home prices stayed about the same or suffered a slight decrease.
- “Low interest rates help support demand, and consumer confidence readings in the coming months will be key, but the virus does heighten some of the longer-term challenges on the supply side in terms of housing supply,” says Robert Dietz, an economist with NAHB.
Yun: Fed’s Rate Cut to Zero Is ‘the Right Policy’ (REALTOR Magazine)
NAR Chief Economist, Dr. Lawrence Yun, provides readers with an update on the impact of the Federal Reserve Bank’s recent rate cuts. Here are a couple of key points:
- Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily, says mortgage rates are not likely to go lower after the Fed’s meeting on Sunday. But watch for rates to possibly go lower at some point in the coming weeks due to the Fed’s mortgage bond buying effort.
- “The monetary policy change is the same one applied a decade ago during the Great Recession—the lowest rates combined with quantitative easing.”
- “This is an all-out measure to prevent a recession and fight the fear that is blanketing the country. It is the right policy, since the policy can easily be reversed should a vaccine be discovered or the virus goes away.”
- During the last recession, real estate was on “wobbly ground with loose lending and too much supply. Today, there is no subprime lending and too little supply. The real estate market will hold on much better.”
How the Fed’s second emergency rate cut affects mortgage rates (Bankrate.com)
This article takes a very deep dive into the impact that the Federal Reserve Bank’s decision to reduce the benchmark interest rate to zero. It provides multiple calculators to assist you in determining actual pricing.
How Coronavirus Has Affected Real Estate (New York Times)
While this article has multiple New York-specific references, it provides a good amount of information about how real estate professionals are dealing with the challenges presented during the coronavirus outbreak.
