Housing Market Slows During Election Week

In wake of the presidential elections and mounting COVID-19 cases, homebuyers and sellers took 10 from the market last week, according to Realtor.com’s Weekly Housing Report for the week ending Nov 7.

In fact, it was an accelerated drop off from the week before, the report found. Meantime, the prices and pace of sales remained steady as she goes, nipping the typical seasonal pause in the bud.

"Between the presidential election and a new wave of coronavirus cases, buyers and sellers had a lot of reasons to pause last week," according to realtor.com Chief Economist, Danielle Hale. The big question, she continued, is whether both buyers and sellers will jump back into the market after last week's break. “With mortgage rates expected to rise on news of a likely vaccine, buyers may have reason to jump back in and find a home sooner rather than later, but sellers may be more inclined to stay on hold. Thus, even as overall activity slows, we may very well see continued price growth and quick sales."

For the second straight week, new listings receded, backing up 12% for the week ending Nov. 7 from the 9% fade last week.

Meanwhile, in light of the declining number of homes for sale, there’s been a rapid uptick in sales among those that are available. They’re on the market on the average of a scant 13 days.

If the trend alters and homes sale at an even quicker rate, all signs would point toward buyers remaining on the hunt during the holidays, according to realtor.com.

A forecast from Zillow predicted home sales will peak during the autumn and begin to moderate into 2021 but will remain above pre-pandemic levels, stated TheMReport.com.

The coming months will also see home prices remaining higher. Zillow is forecasting seasonally-adjusted home prices will inch up by 1.2% from August to November and rise 4.8% between August 2020 and August 2021—the latter replaces a previous forecast aiming at a 3.8% increase in home prices over the same time frame. Zillow explained this forecast was based on strong sales and vibrant pricing during the summer despite a serious imbalance between housing supply and buyer demand, coupled with a delay of this year’s buying season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The annualized pace of new home sales in August exceeded 1 million homes, which Zillow said is a level unseen since 2006.