Coronavirus and Real Estate

I’m getting an email a day in my inbox from predictors and pundits about real estate and the Coronavirus. While we as real estate agents can’t deliver a lot of clarity (our crystal balls are always foggy anyway), here are some observations about real estate in light of these unusual circumstances.

Observation #1

San Francisco residents are intrepid. We’ve seen no decline in open house traffic, and people seem fine about sharing air space with each other. And this is not just inside houses; yesterday I saw a crowded line of diners stretching down half a block waiting to get into Liho Liho.

Observation #2

Rates are dropping! And dropping! This is increasing buying power and could further drive prices up (which have been going up already since the first of the year).

Observation #3

The stock market sucks right now– and it’s impossible to know how it’s going to behave in the short term. When this happens, there is often a flight to the more reliable, slow-moving real estate sector.

Observation #4

No matter how bad the economy might get, everyone still needs a place to live. People will always get married or divorced, get a promotion or laid off, have kids or see them fly the nest, and go through the other life changes that gets homes bought and sold.