COVID-19 and Real Estate Transactions

COVID Real Estate: 

Bay Area real estate has always been an unpredictable science, but throw a pandemic in the mix and it is even more surprising! 

Never did we predict that we would have to alter the method of showing homes, especially open houses, and rely solely on virtual tours for home previews. Our face-to-face communication with clients had to cease for a bit, which was pretty tough on two extrovert Realtors! Of course we made the adjustments and began to implement the new, safe norms for our buyers and sellers and have closed 20 homes since that first SIP day in mid-March, with 6 pending and 3 active currently.  

The real estate market, however, didn’t seems to miss a beat.  Sure it has had is good days and bad days just like all of us but it seems to remain strong with minimal signs of stopping.   

Rather than stalling like many other industries, real estate values in the Bay Area have continued their upward surge, despite the economic uncertainty the pandemic has created. 

California’s median home price jumped 6.4 percent to $666,320 in July, over June’s $626,170.  That was nearly a 10 percent increase from July 2019. 

A number of factors including mortgage rates, which are at an all-time low, demand from the shutdown period, and migration changes are driving up sales and prices. Here on the Peninsula, the lack of supply continues to drive competition. In fact, this year will be one of our busiest yet. 

While we are unsure what the fall will bring, we are certain that we are going to continue to bring our clients the same consistent, quality service that we have for more than two decades.  The Joyce and Tatum team at Dwell is better than ever and more determined to help our clients find their dream homes, regardless of what life throws at us.