So far so good!
We are nearing the end of the month of May and as of a few days ago we are tracking 36% down in pending sales from a year ago. While this number is certainly not good it is far better than the 66% down we experienced in April. The trend seems solid.
My guess is, though, that we'll continue to be down somewhat from last year probably until the end of this year. There are just too many people unemployed and too many businesses still heavily impacted to be increasing in sales like we were the first two months of 2020.
Due to sales continuing to be down and price drops beginning to increase I still feel strongly that if you are thinking of selling now is the time to do it. To wait any longer runs the risk of having to contend with need for larger price drops.
If you are a buyer do two things. First watch for deals to emerge... then when you find the right home, if there are no competing offers (and less of these will exist in this market), negotiate hard. Without competing offers and if the home has been on the market more than a week, you'll increasingly be in the driver's seat. Don't expect huge drops at this point... but you may be able to secure a 5% to 10% discount. (Of course this depends on how well the home was priced to begin with.)
Hang in there everyone. We'll get through this of course. Just a matter of time!
I appreciate you! Stay safe... and be well!