Our Firsthand Look at a Housing Market that’s Still Surging Despite the Pandemic

Summer is an active time for housing but the coronavirus pandemic that seemingly shut down the world in early Spring gave us reason to wonder.

However, the National Association of REALTORS® June report showed existing home sales surged 20.7% from the prior month. Clearly the wondering has ceased. Realty ONE Group real estate professionals now are faced with the same challenge they’ve been managing for many, many months — low inventory in most markets means not enough houses to meet demand.

I’ve talked to many of our agents who are just as busy listing and selling homes as they were 12 months ago and I’ve even heard from several who have had the best months of their career.

Why is the housing market outperforming most indexes? Mortgage rates are still at historic lows and buying a home is still one of the best financial investments you can make. And as a CNBC article reminds us, this economic recession was not caused by the financial markets, housing, oil prices, or something similar. This downturn is a direct result of the health crisis. So, despite unemployment rates and today’s lingering uncertainties, people still want to own a home and some have spent so much time in their house recently that it’s time to move. And when they do, we’ll be ready to help.