Since the Coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders went into full effect with an unforeseen outcome and trends of the virus infecting Californians increasing, buyers and sellers have been kept on the sidelines. Economic activity has been resuming then halting as the state gradually reopens but with necessary precautions. The housing market, understandably, has been lagging behind as restrictions continue.
The process of home buying has become completely virtual, with online tours that will never fully substitute the in-home visits where buyers can experience the home in real-time instead of viewing it on their laptop. People prefer to wait.
As for the numbers, there’s only been a one percent decline from the median home sale price for California while the home sales volume remains low. May 2020 saw 39% lower transactions than the year before, while the median home price rose 2.7%.
Real Estate trends are also being impacted by recent evictions amid coronavirus. According to Aspen Institute, 1 in 5 renters could be evicted from their home with California at most risk. The good news? The National Association of Realtors reported that nearly half of members say their market is slowly recovering, although hesitant due to the predicted second wave of COVID-19.