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Arizona, Real Estate

Will Working at Home Spark New Home Sales?

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The growing trend of working remotely could untether Americans from office spaces in pricey areas and prompt them to buy homes elsewhere.

Home sales in the suburbs as well as smaller, less expensive cities could see a boost that continues beyond pre-pandemic levels, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Some tech companies, including Facebook, Twitter, and Square, have already announced that they will allow select employees to work remotely full time. They expect half of their workforce to work remotely within five to 10 years.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that about 75% of his employees have already expressed an interest in moving to a different city if they could work remotely.

The insurance company Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, has announced a permanent transition to working from home for some of its employees as well as a hybrid work model for others. That hybrid model includes working from smaller brick-and-mortar offices that will remain open.

Source: Could the Rise of Remote Work Spark More Home Sales? | Realtor Magazine

We closed our office in Kingman in 2007, anticipating the real estate slowdown that came after 2008. Besides the convenience of having an office in town (with a bedroom if we wanted to stay overnight,) it really didn’t seem to affect our business at all. We were pretty much always meeting people in Yucca, or by the exits on I-40, so nothing really changed at all. The only downside to having a home office, is that you’re always “at work.”

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Coronavirus Leads to Worst Home Sales in a Decade | realtor.com®

Existing-home sales hit their lowest level in a decade as the coronavirus pandemic continued to play havoc on the housing market.

Sales of previously lived-in homes plummeted 17.2%, to just 4.33 million transactions in April compared with a year ago, according to the seasonally adjusted numbers in a recent report from the National Association of Realtors®. They were down 17.8% from March as much of the country stayed home to help stem the spread of COVID-19.

“Sales are at the worst level in about a decade. But all things considered, it really could’ve been worse,” says realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “It’s not surprising given that everyone’s staying home.”

With nearly 39 million folks filing for unemployment since the crisis began two months ago and many parts of the country still prohibiting in-person showings, May and June could also be rough months for the housing market, she predicts.

Source: Coronavirus Leads to Worst Home Sales in a Decade | realtor.com®

We’re still super busy in Mohave County. It’s startling to see the number of sales, and the number of new homes being constructed.

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Biggest Real Estate Investors Hoarding Cash

The world’s biggest real estate investors are sitting on piles of cash, preparing for once-in-a-lifetime opportunities created by the pandemic.

With economies around the world sputtering, commercial real estate prices are expected to come down. How much they’ll fall is the key question. Sellers are currently willing to concede discounts of around 5%, while bidders are hoping for about 20% off pre-pandemic prices, said Charles Hewlett, managing director at Rclco Real Estate Advisors. That estimated gap, which is likely wider in specific cases, has put a freeze on deals.

“The mantra for anything that hasn’t gotten started is: delay, defer and, in many cases, renegotiate,” Hewlett said. “If I’m going to have vintage May 2020 on my books, I want to be able to demonstrate to my investors that I got an exceptionally good deal.”

The volume of deals in Europe plunged 65% in April from a year earlier, according to Leahy. U.S. and Asian markets faced similar drops.

Source: Real estate buyers loaded with cash wait for sellers to crack – Daily News

Real Estate

Home Prices Still Rising in the Pandemic

Home sellers can take heart. Despite the fervent wishes of buyers, home prices are ticking up during this coronavirus crisis—instead of down. In a surprise, the median home list price rose 1.6% annually in the week ending April 25 compared with the same week a year ago, according to the most recent national data from realtor.com® looking at the 99 largest metropolitan areas.

Real estate experts have been predicting that price growth would level off or even dip, as prices had been up only 0.3% year over year in the previous week and just 0.8% in the week prior to that. That was a stark contrast to just a few months ago, when prices were rising by more than 4% annually before the coronavirus pandemic essentially put the U.S. on lockdown.

Source: Despite the Coronavirus, Home Prices Are Still Rising—for Now | realtor.com®

Meanwhile, residential sales in the Lake Havasu-Kingman-Bullhead City markets continue to be very strong, and the builders are all busy.

Land sales in Yucca have been very strong this year, and at this pace it will be the best year in many. Summer will tell the tale, but it seems that everyone suddenly needs more space these days. We have plenty of sunshine and wide open vistas to accommodate you all!

They aren’t making any more of the land though, so get your piece while it’s the most affordable in the last 25 years. – Ben

Real Estate

Real Estate Listings Plummet in April – NAR

April is usually one of the busiest months for the housing market, as the spring home-buying season is well underway. Not this year. The novel coronavirus has dealt the real estate market a series of blows, starting with sidelining both buyers and sellers and worsening the already severe housing shortage.

The number of homes that went on the market plummeted in April compared with the previous year. New listings were down 44.1% nationally, according to realtor.com®’s Monthly Housing Trends Report. That affected the overall number of homes for sale, which was down by about 189,000 listings, representing about a 15.3% drop in housing inventory in April compared with the prior year.

Source: Number of Home Listings Plummeted in April as Coronavirus Took Its Toll | realtor.com®

And we’re busier than in years… Ben

Real Estate

Lowest Mortgage Rates Ever

There is at least one bright spot for home buyers, sellers, and owners amid the economic mayhem brought on by the novel coronavirus. Mortgage interest rates have fallen to a new record low, a boon to homeowners who may want to refinance and save money, and buyers (if anyone feels like buying a home right now).

Rates have been on a wild ride since this crisis began, and the average for a 30-year fixed-rate hit 3.23% for the week ending April 30, according to Freddie Mac. That’s the lowest it’s been since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971. The average rate was 4.14% a year ago.

The drop may not seem all that substantial, as it’s not even a full percentage point. But the lower rate will save borrowers $132 a month for a $320,000 home (the national median home price) if they made a 20% down payment. That’s $1,584 a year—which adds up over the life of that 30-year loan.

Source: Mortgage Rates Hit New All-Time Lows—and They May Fall More | realtor.com®

Real Estate

Real Estate Update April 2020

We started off April, very concerned about the coronavirus, and here at the end of the month, we’re still concerned, but ever more hopeful as it appears that the lockdown will probably do more damage than the virus. Only time will tell, but we sure have all been stunned at the rapid change to every aspect of our lives, and not just here, but world wide.

Real estate has continued at a brisk pace in Mohave County with some slowing in residential sales, but overall still very strong.  I believe that once our economy is opened from its’ current strangled state that we’ll see a surge of pent up demand, especially from southern California.

Meanwhile, suddenly Yucca Arizona land is a hot item. We’ve seen a big uptick in land sales from everyone who actively works here. For the first time in many years, we are seeing the inventory begin to clear a bit, and finally some price appreciation. One can only hope…

It makes sense to me, as I feel a sense of security here on 40 acres that I wouldn’t have in a locked down city. While its somewhat tedious to have virtually no personal social contact, it’s pleasant here, and I don’t feel boxed in at all. The garden keeps every spare moment occupied (and sometimes the guitar does too!)

Solar power is liberating from the grid. Decentralization allows one to adjust to changing conditions whether it be cloudy days, extra power needs for the hot days etc.  It’s challenging to adjust your lifestyle to your power production, but having redundant systems brings a peace of mind that being dependent on government or utility companies can never give.

Besides the natural beauty that we experience here on a daily basis, there’s the knowing that my neighbors and friends here are for the most part, very independent and self sufficient. Many are far more prepared than us, but more importantly, helpful and supportive.

April is ending on a hot note, and by hot, I mean the actual temperature. We’re seeing an early heat wave going from pleasant 70s to warm 90s virtually overnight. Yucca will see 100 degrees this week. Often, the hot weather signals a big slowdown in land activity. We’ll see if this year is different. – Ben

Real Estate

Home Sales Plunge in March

After the plunge in homebuilder sentiment as they are forced to face reality and the big drop in existing home sales, new home sales were expected to tumble in March (after already dropping in February – bucking the uptrend in existing- and pending-sales).

New Home Sales crashed by 15.4% MoM – the biggest drop since July 2013 – smashing the year-over-year comparison down 9.5%…

Source: US New Home Sales Have Never Dropped This Much In March… Ever | Zero Hedge

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March Sales Decline according to NAR

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes dropped in March by the most since November 2015, representing weaker demand that likely is going to get much worse in coming months as the pandemic bears down on the economy.

Contract closings declined 8.5% from the prior month to an annualized 5.27 million, the slowest since April 2019, from a downwardly revised 5.76 million in February,

Housing inventory picked up a little in March but remains down 10.2% YoY and at the lowest level for March in history.

“Based on what we are seeing at the moment, don’t be surprised if the sales activity could be down as much as 30% or even 40% in the next couple of months,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said on a call with reporters.

Source: Existing Home Sales Tumble In March, Face 40% Collapse, NAR Warns | Zero Hedge

The National Association of Realtors reported a stunning decline at the end of March. Hopefully, when we all come out of lockdown, there will be plenty of pent up demand.

 

Real Estate

A home seller’s Pandemic secret weapon: 3D virtual tours

On March 10, my husband and I decided to list our home this spring—smack in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

This was not a decision we took lightly. Derrick and I had been thinking about putting our Chicago condo on the market for a while. Having lived in our two-bed, two-bath home for four years, 2020 was going to be when we’d finally “settle down” somewhere quieter and closer to our families.

Plus, we figured at the time that getting in on the spring buying season would be key.

On March 11, we emailed a local real estate agent, Paul Barker of Barker Group, who specialized in our Northside neighborhood and had sent us a marketing flyer last year. We made plans for the three of us to meet at our condo a few days later.

But that week, as things began to really get weird in Chicago—like panic shopping at grocery stores and sports seasons canceling­—we questioned whether we’d need to meet virtually instead. Barker assured us we’d be fine, however.

“I need to do a walk-through, but we will keep our distance, and I won’t have to touch anything,” he told me. “Then, after I’ve researched and put together a plan, we can have a virtual meeting to go over the marketing strategies and pricing.”

The good news with moving forward as planned, our real estate agent told us, was that online traffic was actually up from the previous month. But with showing requests down, we’d have to up our game online. How? By adding a 3D virtual tour to our listing. Creating a virtual tour would entail hiring a specialized photographer and equipment—which our agent’s firm would provide.

Source: ‘Why We’re Selling Our Home During the Coronavirus Pandemic’ | realtor.com®

Click on the link to see what Realtors are doing with 3D virtual tours to keep selling during the pandemic.