Summary: With <a href="http://terrystory.com">Terry Story</a>, a 31-year veteran with Keller Williams located in Boca Raton, FL<br> During this week’s Real Estate Roundup, Steve spoke further with <a href="http://www.terrystory.com/">Terry Story</a>, a 31-year veteran at Keller Williams, about the state of the real estate industry amidst the coronavirus pandemic.<br> Pending Homes Sales<br> The coronavirus pandemic is definitely affecting pending home sales, at least it is in the Palm Beach County area where Terry operates. Since March 19th, properties under contract have fluctuated significantly. She noted, “When I first began monitoring properties under contract, we had 311. The next week, it was 297. The third week, the number dropped all the way down to 209. Then, in the fourth week, the numbers went back up to 217. And then up again the next week to 232. I’m starting to see a pattern. We have a tendency to freak out when numbers drop, but this seems to be our new norm. Things are starting to pick back up.”<br> Steve observed that the pattern of pending sales looks like it may be parallel to recent stock market action.<br> The Overall State Of The Market<br> It’s not unexpected that numbers are generally down. Inventory is lower and sellers are concerned about finding buyers. Some are simply pulling their homes off the market. “What I really think we’re seeing is a pause. Buyers are pausing, sellers are pausing,” Terry said.<br> There are, however, still sellers who want to sell their homes. And in order to sell in the current market, sellers have been willing to lower their prices a bit. “And buyers, especially motivated buyers, are seizing the opportunity to get the home they want at a lower price,” Terry added.<br> The question then is “What will this look like on the backside?” Terry believes that buyer demand will be greater than seller demand for quite a while. “We’re going to stay in a seller’s market until we get to a point where there are more sellers than buyers. And that will happen. We can’t stay in a seller’s market forever.”<br> Steve noted that a keyword Terry used is “motivated”, saying, “I think that’s the key driver here because these people who are motivated to sell, they’re going to be willing to drop their price, and buyers that are motivated are going to be willing to work through the greater difficulties involved in buying.”<br> Steve closed their conversation out by having Terry reiterate the main points of previous discussions about how the coronavirus has actually changed the process of home buying and selling. Agents are using virtual tours, protective gear is required for actual home visits, and mortgage financing requirements have become significantly stricter.<br> If you’d like to learn more about buying or selling a home, check out <a href="https://www.kw.com/kw/">Keller Williams</a>.<br> Disclosure: The opinions expressed are those of the interviewee and not necessarily of the radio show. Interviewee is not a representative of the radio show. Investing involves risk and investors should carefully consider their own investment objectives and never rely on any single chart, graph or marketing piece to make decisions. Content provided is intended for informational purposes only, is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, and should not be considered tax, legal, investment advice. Please contact your tax, legal, financial professional with questions about your specific needs and circumstances. The information contained herein was obtained from sources believed to be reliable, however their accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. All data are driven from publicly available information and has not been independently verified by the radio show.<br>
