According to Canopy Realtor Association’s latest market report, year-over-year real estate sales were down across Union County in April, just as they were across the entire region, throughout the Carolinas and nationwide.

Unless you’ve been living on a different planet since Christmas, you probably know the reason for that.

With unemployment rising at a historic pace, along with uncertainty about personal health and finances, many potential buyers were involuntarily removed from the buyer pool while others decided to take a step back and put their buying plans on hold.

But not all buyers have stayed on the sidelines, and that’s reflected in stable home prices and fewer average days on the market for home listings.

Despite the current situation, buyer demand remains high relative to available inventory, and that’s great news for homeowners.

Homeowners

For those who are thinking of selling, the national health crisis and government-led economic slowdown have not had a negative impact on home values.  Year-over-year, home sale prices are up around 5% and they are maintaining values reached earlier in the year.

Home values typically depreciate in a buyer’s market – that is when the supply of homes for sale, both from new construction and resale, outpaces demand.  With only 1.6 months of the available inventory in Union County, we are far from being in a buyer’s market.

That said, interest rates remain at historically low levels, in turn increasing home buyers’ purchasing power.

For homeowners who are planning to stay put, many are taking advantage of lower interest rates to refinance their existing mortgages and lower their monthly payments while their homes maintain value in the short term and expect to resume their upward tick when all this is over.

Union County By the Numbers

• Sales fell 28.9 percent year-over-year with 297 homes sold in April 2020 compared to 418 homes sold in April 2019.
• Pending contract activity declined 22.0 percent to 340 contracts written during the month, while new listing activity also declined 35.9 percent year-over-year with sellers listing 332 homes for sale compared to 518 homes listed for sale in April 2019.
• Sales prices are steady in Union County, with both the median sales price ($325,000) and the average sales price ($384,252) rising 4.8 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively, compared to last year.
• Inventory fell 29.8 percent year-over-year, with 609 properties for sale at report time.
• This represents 1.6 months of supply compared to 2.5 months of supply in April 2019.
• Days on market until sale averaged 38 days compared to 60 days on market in April 2019.

Home Ownership

Homeownership is about the long game.  Homeownership signifies stability, security, and mental, emotional, and financial health.

More often than not, life-changing events precipitate the sale and purchase of the real estate.

This is one of the main reasons many consider buying and selling real estate to be among the most stressful and most exciting events they’ll experience, right up there with marriage and divorce, birth and death.

Those life experiences, as well as relocation from work and a desire for a change in lifestyle, are among the most common motivators for residential real estate transactions.

Bottom Line

The economy may have slowed, but our lives have not. And the reasons stated above are just as powerful today as they’ve always been.

Whether you have a real estate need now or in the future, if you have a question about the market in general or your house in particular, or if you are considering a career in real estate, I’d love to talk!