Roughly 765,000 new homes were purchased in February 2020, according to a recent MReport. This is 4.4% less than the homes that were sold in January, however it was still higher than February of 2019. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the average new house sold last month was approximately $403,800. In addition, the estimated available inventory that was still available at the end of February was 316,000, which is roughly a five month supply of homes. 27% of homes sold last month were priced between $200,000-$299,000, and 26% were priced between $300,000-$399,000. About 18% of homes were priced over $500,000. According to Lewis Holden, Home and Mortgage Specialist, NerdWallet, February could be the “last hurrah” for new home sales for the coming several months. Lewis also stated, “New home sales are likely to fall drastically in the coming months as potential buyers hunker down in the homes that they want to move out of.” Potential buyers will most likely wait for the Coronavirus outbreak to settle down before they decide to move.
WHAT ELSE DID THEY FIND?
In a recent Redfin survey, they found that almost one-third of homebuyers and sellers expect home prices to increase when the recession hits, which is less than earlier this year when roughly 56% expected home prices to increase during the next recession. According to their data, 25% in December believed home prices were expected to decline during the next recession. That number rose to 44% in March. Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather stated, “Home prices declined substantially during the Great Recession, which started with a housing crash, but throughout the 2001 recession home prices actually rose due to a nascent housing bubble and a shift in investment dollars from the stock market into real estate. It’s perfectly reasonable to expect that a 2020 recession won’t stop home prices from rising, since the supply of homes for sale is so constricted and mortgage rates are at all-time lows.”
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