Buyer demand reached a bottom a couple of weeks ago, and now it is on the rise.
Rising Demand: Demand rose 9% even though “stay at home” orders have not yet been lifted.
After seven weeks of staying at home, everybody is figuring out ways to make life feel a bit more normal again. DoorDash is on the go delivering food from local favorite restaurants. Church service is now streaming live with the ability to hit pause if the two-year old is acting up. With Zoom meetings all week long, working from home in t-shirts and shorts is not a bad way to get a lot accomplished. The kids are busy cyber learning in their online classrooms. Everybody is adapting to a new way of life. Buyers are adapting as well and are looking for homes again, the market is waking up. After reaching a low two weeks ago, Orange County had dropped to inherent, natural demand last seen during the start to the Great Recession. Yet, in the past couple of weeks a change was afoot. Reports from the real estate trenches of increased showings and buyers writing offers again were repeated all over the county. Buyers are figuring out that they can still purchase a home in the middle of California’s “stay at home” order. The real estate industry has adapted to selling homes in this new COVID-19 environment. Buyers view properties wearing protective face masks and disposable, rubber gloves while respecting proper social distancing protocol. Everything else is done electronically, from a list of properties to a comparable market analysis to real estate contracts that grant buyers permission to view and purchase properties. As a result, it is not surprising that demand (the number of pending sales over the prior 30-days) increased by 9% in the past two weeks, growing from 1,080 to 1,172 pending sales.
