April Brings A Bounce To The Housing Market

The pandemic across the world has hurt the country’s economy. Although the housing market is still strong, the sales of new and existing homes fell this March. so far, April is seeing better days in the housing market.

According to Zillow, pending home sales, week-over-week is seeing a positive turn as of the week ending on April 15. Pending home sales, homes with contracts that have not closed, are up 6.2% week-over-week as of the seven days ending April 19.

Web traffic was also up in April. Zillow reports that traffic on for-sale listings and comments for Realtor advice has grown this month. The national total is up to 13% annually for the week ending on April 13 and is higher annually this April in 30 of the 35 largest metro areas. Shelter-in-place has given potential buyers plenty of time at home to look for a home on the internet.

People are getting used to the idea of searching for a home virtually. The housing market has gone online with home tours, home inspections, home appraisals and closings. Homebuyers and investors are comfortable with the current market because home values are holding. The National Association of Realtors’ weekly survey reported that 74% of agents observed their clients have not reduced listing prices.

“Real estate transactions and new listings have declined abruptly amidst the coronavirus pandemic, but we haven’t yet seen prices significantly affected,” said Zillow economist Jeff Tucker.

Redfin reported that buyer demand is recovering nicely. The data compared the daily number of homebuyer inquiries now, to the average in January and February, seasonally adjusted.

“Consumers are mostly abiding by stay-in-shelter directives, and it appears the current decline in buyer and seller activity is only temporary, with a majority ready to hit the market in a couple of months,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Given that there are even fewer new listings during the pandemic, home sellers are taking a calm approach and appear unwilling to lower prices to attract buyers during the temporary disruptions to the economy.”

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A Spike in Listing Traffic in the Housing Market

The economy is questionable during current times but the traffic from home buyers is on the rise. According to Zillow, more buyers are actively looking for homes online than they were this time a year ago.

People all over the country are looking online for a home. Currently, the national total is up 13% year over year for the week ending April 13, 2020. Some metro areas have more viewer traffic than others. Thirty of the thirty-five largest metro areas have had high year-over-year web traffic to for-sale listings during the second week of April 2020.

Zillow.com explains is the methodology as follows, “All page view events of for-sale homes on Zillow.com and the Zillow app are tabulated by day and the listing’s ZIP code, and then aggregated today and MSA. Figures are presented as rolling 7-day trailing averages to smooth out daily noise. Pageviews exclude real estate agents and other professional users on Zillow. Year-over-year comparisons are done after offsetting 2019 data by 2 days, in order to compare the same days of the week, e.g. we compare Sunday, March 29, 2020, with Sunday, March 31, 2019. ”

This is good news for the housing market as we continue to be under shelter-in-place orders. Data shows that the highest levels are seen in Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas and Atlanta. The lowest levels currently seen are in Minneapolis, New York, Boston and San Francisco.

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Is the 2020 Housing Market Turning Into the 2008 Housing Market?

The Great Recession from 2008 brought hardship to the housing market. Many Americans were hit with financial hardships, lost homes and jobs. The Great Recession stemmed from the housing and mortgage crisis. Today, the housing market is under pressure with the economic slowdown from COVID-19. Although we are facing a challenge today, there are several differences between today’s housing market and the housing market in 2008.

The first difference we see is appreciation. In 2008 the years that led up to the crash had a higher appreciation than the years leading up to COVID-19. The highest level seen before COVID-19 was below the lowest level seen before the Great Recession.

Next, we see a difference in mortgage credit. Mortgage credit is based on the Mortgage Credit Availability Index which is a monthly measure put out by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The Mortgage Association will determine the level of difficulty to secure a loan. This means the higher the index, the easier it is to get a loan or the lower the index, the harder it is to secure a loan. Before the 2008 crash, the index was very high. Today, before the economic downturn the lending standards have been much more conservative.

Another difference seen before the crash is the number of homes for sale. In 2008 there was an overabundance of homes for sale throughout the country. In 2020 we do not have enough homes for sale. Currently, there are less than 6 months of inventory across the nation.

The use of home equity is also quite different. In 2008 many homeowners were cashing out the equity in their home, but today homeowners are being much more conservative with their home equity. Before the Great Recession, $824 billion was cashed out across the nation. Leading up to the pandemic, the total of home equity cashed out was $232 billion. Currently, 53.8% of homes have at least 50% equity while in 2008 homeowners owed more than what their home was worth.

The good news is that the housing market today is in a much more stable position during the health crisis. Hopefully, the housing market will help pull the country up from the current economic downturn.

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Annual Tremé/7th Ward Arts & Culture Festival, May 26, 2020

Enjoy various artists live in New Orleans.

 

Various Locations Throughout Tremé and the 7th Ward
New Orleans, La 70130

May 26, 2020
12pm – 7pm

Music LineUp:
New Orleans Dance Collective 12:00 – 12:15 p.m.
Bernell & The All Starz Brass Band 12:30 – 1:15 p.m.
Zeka Bru, Chapter Role Play Performer 1:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Tremé Brass Band 2:00 – 2:45 p.m.
Neshia Ruffins 3:00 – 3:45 p.m.
Gina Brown & Anutha Level 4:00 – 4:45 p.m.
Kermit Ruffins & The BBQ Swingers 5:00 – 5:45 p.m.
James Andrews 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.

 

Tickets: Both free and paid events. See website for details.

 

 

Tremé/7th Ward Arts & Culture Festival, May 25, 2020

The festival begins at noon in New Orleans.

 

Various Locations Throughout Tremé and the 7th Ward
New Orleans, La 70130

May 25, 2020
12pm – 7pm

Music LineUp:
Jackson Square All Stars Brass Band 12:30 – 1:15 p.m.
Slow Rollers Brass Band 1:30 – 2:15 p.m.
Dat Boi Cue, Iris P, Ragin Rebelz 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Jose Fermin and Merengue4-FOUR 3:45 – 4:30 p.m.
Y’Isreal 4:45 – 5:45 p.m.
Corey Henry & The Funktet 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.

 

 

Tickets: Both free and paid events. See website for details.