In March, when the pandemic took hold and things started shutting down, many home buyers and sellers put their spring plans on hold. The start of the housing market’s typical sales season was delayed indefinitely as Americans took a wait-and-see attitude. Now, three months later, local economies have reopened and consumers have started to adjust to new safety measures. But what has happened to the plans of those home buyers and sellers? Well, according to new numbers from the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website, home buyers have returned to the market much faster than sellers. In fact, buyer demand has bounced back in full, while new listings are down 19 percent from where they were last year at the same time. That means, a lot of homeowners who were planning to sell have yet to put their homes on the market. How many of them eventually do, and when, will help determine where home prices are headed, how much competition buyers face, and how quickly the homes that are for sale end up selling this summer. (source)
