With Colorado’s Stay at Home Order ending April 26th, many businesses, restaurants, and retailers have begun the uncertain process of reopening. However, most counties in Denver Metro extended their own stay at home orders until May 8th. These counties include Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, and Jefferson. After the 8th, we will start to see more openings with new guidelines and restrictions in place. This is true for real estate as well. In mid-April, real estate showings were strictly prohibited, but that restriction is being lifted which can be seen in the graph of showings below. In fact, they have bounced back to almost early January numbers (January is usually a slower time for showings anyway). However, this is not a return to normal. All properties will need to be disinfected between showings; anyone entering a home will need a mask and gloves, and sanitation stations must be presented to wash or sanitize hands. Seller’s will be weary of having 20 showings back to back anymore. The days of viewing as many properties as possible are over. The process will be a lot more like HGTV’s House Hunters – Buyer’s will be narrowing down their search online and viewing only a few in person.
So How’s the Market?
Despite an inability to show properties, the market did not collapse. There remained a motivated, yet smaller, pool of buyers who continued to put homes under contract. Total number of sales decreased by about 25% from March to April and so did Days on Market. Active Listings were less impacted with many sellers relying on 3D Virtual Tours to showcase their property. It remains to be seen how the new Safer-at-Home restrictions will impact the market with mandatory disinfecting between showings, but I believe there are more buyers who will start to feel safer dipping their toes back in the market.
| April 2018 | April 2019 | March 2020 | April 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Price | $416K | $415K | $440K | $435K |
| Sales Price/ Original Price | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| # Sales | 4,808 | 4,958 | 4,500 | 3,605 |
| # Active Listings | 7,006 | 8,802 | 7,705 | 8,267 |
| Months of Inventory | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Days on Market | 5 | 8 | 6 | 5 |
The long term fallout of COVID-19 is also an unknown. The massive unemployment numbers will certainly negatively impact the pool of qualified buyers and will likely lead to many defaults for current homeowners. How quickly businesses are able to re-open and re-hire will play a major role in the long term impact of this crisis. Stay safe and please email p.brady@kw.com with any questions!
