April real estate news you may have missed

We can’t fault you if keeping up with the ever-changing April real estate news while hunkering down at home isn’t part of your new routine. It seems like we just get used to a new regulation or proclamation when along comes another one that wipes the previous one off the books.

Our government is a bit mercurial at the moment, with wild mood swings that are ever more challenging to keep up with.

We bravely searched April real estate news for you and condensed it into some bite-sized chunks along with tips on where to learn more about the stuff you’re interested in.

You’re welcome.

So, just how far did the March real estate sales market fall?

8.5 percent.

Sounds bad, doesn’t it? When we put it another way, say in the number of homes sold (5.27 million), it doesn’t sound quite so onerous.

That’s still a lot of homes being sold during a worldwide pandemic.

Inventory got tighter in March as well with “roughly half as many new listings” compared to this time last year, according to Danielle Hale, chief economist at realtor.com. The number of homes for sale overall fell more than 10 percent compared to a year ago.

Hale also said that the situation will get worse, with sales falling 30 percent to 40 percent over the next few months.

The good news is that homes that did sell sold quickly. The average DOM in March were 29 compared to 36 days at this time last year.

And, people are still buying and selling and that’s what we should all keep top-of-mind.

Want to stay engaged with your leads during the pandemic? Here are some tips to keep them happy.

Buying a home sight unseen? No problem!

My, how priorities change. Realtor.com conducted a survey that finds 25 percent of homebuyers “. . . say they would buy a home without even stepping foot in it,” according to HousingWire.com’s Julia Falcon.

We already said that Covid-19 is changing the real estate market, and if you ever needed more proof of that, look at how virtual home tours have taken off in recent months.

A couple of weeks ago the folks at Redfin said that they were experiencing a more than 490 percent increase in requests for videos, led by agents, of homes they were interested in viewing. They’ve also seen an increase in requests for 3-D home tours.

Zillow, according to Falcon, saw a more-than 190 percent increase in requests for 3-D home tours.

This is a sure sign that there are motivated buyers out there, despite being in the midst of a pandemic.

The Realtor.com survey had one even bigger shocker: 56 percent of sellers said that they would be comfortable holding an open house.

Nearly 3 million borrowers are already in forbearance (how many will sell when the bill comes due?)

We wonder how many understand the rules their lenders set forth in order to obtain the forbearance. Many of these homeowners will be faced with a huge balloon payment at the end of the forbearance period.

How many can afford that? How many will decide to sell their homes rather than face foreclosure?

Something for real estate agents to consider.

Appraisals 4 months after closing: Who would’ve thought?

One last bit of April real estate news – The Board of Govs of the Fed and some other rule-making boards have declared that it’s now ok for lenders to put off appraisals for as long as 120 days after closing.

There are some “only ifs,” however and these include, according to Ben Lane at HousingWire.com:

• The loans must be kept in the banks’ portfolios
• It only applies to banks overseen by the Fed, OCC and FDIC.

This ruling is good until the end of December of this year.

The burning question on appraisers’ minds is what happens if the home’s value takes a dive after closing and before the appraisal is performed? It’s not like the market isn’t expected to become volatile, after all.

Another wait-and-see in the U.S. real estate market.

How is COVID-19 affecting real estate as an industry? Check out this article to learn more about the potential repercussions, and how to be prepared.