Real Estate Growth During Pandemic?

With over a 50% drop in closed sales, it’s almost as if the real estate industry shut down. Wait a minute, we did shut down!

While much of the country was working on a phased reopening of the economy in June, real estate activity continued to strengthen as well. Nationally, June showing activity as tracked by ShowingTime was up notably from the COVID-19 depressed levels in recent months but was also up from June 2019, reflecting pent-up demand by prospective home buyers.

New Listings in Staten Island decreased 29.1 percent to 484. Pending Sales were down 49.5 percent to 185. Inventory levels fell 26.0 percent to 1,968 units.

Prices continued to gain traction. The Median Sales Price increased 7.3 percent to $590,000. Days on Market was up 26.2 percent to 121 days. Sellers were encouraged as Months Supply of Inventory was down 10.6 percent to 6.9 months.

While buyer activity continues to be robust, seller activity continues to be a bit softer, with fewer homes being listed for sale than a year ago. Many housing experts believe sellers remain reluctant to list their homes due to continued concerns over COVID-19, which was beginning to see a resurgence in June. Until sellers regain confidence, housing inventory will continue to be constrained during what is expected to be an active summer selling season.

The good news however is that the bounce back has been much stronger than we anticipated. Fueled by pent up demand, combined with the exodus from the urban to suburban areas created an overwhelming desire for homes on Staten Island.