Lowndes County Housing Update : 4/22/20 - Lowndes County Market Update

"33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." - Matthew 6:33-34

4/22/20 - Lowndes County Market Update - Covid-19's Impact

This market study is targeted specifically on how Covid-19 has affected our local housing market. In a typical market study, I would focus on the number of "sold" properties, but because of the time frame, I will focus on "Pending" properties. Any properties sold during the period of the virus would not accurately reflect the impact as those properties would have likely went under contract before the virus was an issue. Comparing Pendings, we can see and compare the activity specifically during the pandemic.

I chose the past 37 days (3/16/20-4/22/20) for the market study as 3/16 seemed to be around the time that people began to take the virus seriously. The numbers below are all focused specifically on houses in Lowndes County.

3/16/20- 4/22/20 (37 days)

Pending Listings - 155 - Down 14% from the same period last year / down 25% from the 37 days prior to virus

Active Listings - 405- Down 16% from this time last year

Average list price of currently pending properties - $188,000 - Up 9% from this time last year

Average days on market - 68 - Down 14% from this time last year

So what does all of that mean? The key factor in my eyes is the fact that Pending Listings are down 14% from this time last year, and total active listings are down 16% from last year. This essentially means that our local housing market activity has been negatively affected by approximately 15%.

What does this mean moving forward? The good news is our inventory is still very low in comparison to how quickly homes are selling, so when we do get back to normal, the housing market is poised to be just as hot as it was prior to the pandemic. If the market was flooded with listings and no one to buy them, it would be concerning, but considering inventory, days on market, and lending rates are still low, I feel confident our housing market and values will continue to favor sellers.

Obviously, the economic impact of the shutdown has caused layoffs and has forced people to burn through their savings, so there is potential to be less buyers in the months to come. With very limited data, it is impossible to accurately forecast the market, but with such low inventory, a decrease in buyers will hopefully only help to balance the market.

As always, if you would like specific market data for your neighborhood or area, please call, text, or email me anytime, and if you or anyone you know is considering a move soon, please give them my information! When it comes to one of the biggest transactions in life, experience matters!