Housing Expert: Home Sales Could Fall 30% To 40% In The Next Months

The spring and summer months are traditionally the hottest home-buying season, but one housing expert predicts sales to drop as much as 40% during that time because of the coronavirus outbreak. “Market activity will be lower in the next couple of months,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, said in a press conference. “I won’t be surprised if sales activity could be down 30% or even 40% in the next months.”

Still, Yun doesn’t expect prices to decline as sales ebb in the upcoming months.  “There’s no indication that fewer buyer activity will lead to price declines,” Yun said. “Sellers won’t [decrease] prices and buyers aren’t expecting lower prices.” ‘We knew home sales would wane.’

March sales activity partially captured the effects of the efforts to contain the pandemic, which included social distancing and the shutdown of non-essential businesses in many parts of the country. While housing sales edged up 0.8% from a year ago, the increase was boosted largely by sales of homes priced at $250,000 and higher. Homes priced at $100,000 or less saw a 18% drop in year-over-year sales, while homes between $100,000 and $250,000 fell 4%. -Full Report