Tuesday March 17, 2020 Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News

Coronavirus

Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News

Tuesday March 17, 2020

Tuesday March 17, 2020. In this week’s Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate News: COVID-19, Coronavirus, recession and real estate

1.

What a difference a week makes

The blog posts and videos I made last week already seem quaint and naive. Everyday is a new reality. I suspect the many links below will also seem that way very soon too. This edition of Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News deals only with the questions that I have been asked over the past week.

  • How will the Coronavirus affect real estate?
  • Will there be a recession?
  • Should I sell now or wait?
  • Should I buy now or wait?

Truth is, we have never had such a shock to our society, our finances, our economics and our lives. We don’t know how long it is going to last and how quickly things will get back to normal. 

2.

Real estate agents add social distancing, disinfecting to their selling tactics

“From a pragmatic standpoint, if you’re a home seller, do you want 27 strangers walking through your house today? If you’re a homebuyer, do you want to walk through 27 houses today?” 

3. 

COVID-19 and real estate: with caution, the business of selling homes goes on (for now)

“Those agents who toured properties with buyers today reported numerous precautions in place: booties for shoes, alcohol wipes for door knobs (no one was touching them), hand sanitizer or hand washing at both the beginning and the end of the showing. Many listing agents conducted showings wearing disposable gloves.” 

4.

No one knows how the Coronavirus will impact Canadian real estate

“In terms of the overall real estate market, I suspect we will see a halt in activity. Not just a slowdown in sales, but in new listings as well. You won’t see this reflected in the data for several months, mostly because of the lag time for data processing. Further, while it seems logical prices could drop, if they do, that also won’t be reflected in official price metrics for many months. Due to the emotional nature of real estate, nobody cuts their price overnight. Unlike stocks, there is no mark to market on a daily basis.”

5.

Will COVID-19 dampen buying activity?

“We are coming to the view now that because of the virus and the meltdown in financial markets, we will mostly likely see a decline in buying activity through at least parts of the spring market, and maybe even going into the summer market.”

6.

Will COVID-19 affect the spring real estate market?

If I were a buyer, I would be cautious. Don’t underestimate COVID-19’s negative impacts on the economy, jobs and buyers’ sentiment and avoid over-stretching your budget — something that tends to happen when buying in a seller’s market.”

7.

Should you sell your home during a recession? 

Whether you’re currently trying to sell your home or considering putting your property on the market soon, here are a few factors to keep in mind if a recession actually takes place.

8.

Six weeks to six months to a new normal

Since January, I’ve been watching this Coronavirus story develop. But suddenly it is here and I’m no more ready for it than anyone. And now that it is here, we don’t know if it will impact us for six weeks or six months. In the short run, everything will stop, the market will stall. Activity will dry up. Then in time, things will get back to normal, (not that anything is ever normal in real estate.)

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