COVID-19 has taken a huge bite out of the local real estate market.
According to the latest figures from the Windsor-Essex County Association for Realtors, the number of homes sold last month dropped by more than 50 per cent compared to a year ago.
"It is going to be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks,” says local realtor, Dan Gemus. “We have seen a bit of a uptick in responses and requests for showing over the last couple of weeks, it seems people are coming out of hibernation a little bit.”
Gemus expects sale prices to remain steady for a while.
"Basically with the lack of inventory, it is holding off the amount of offers," he says. "If you only have enough properties on the market for the amount of buyers on the market, than the inventory is stable."
286 properties exchanged hands in April 2020, compared to April 2019 when 634 homes were sold. 445 homes were put up for sale, compared to a year ago when there were 959 properties put on the market.
The average sale price in April 2020 was $352, 463 — about the same compared to a year ago.
President of the Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors Lorraine Clark was expecting the numbers would be down, but not by this much.
"I was hoping they would be better than this," she says. "The positive thing about the real estate industry is that unlike the poor restaurant owners, the business they have lost they have lost. Real estate not so much. Overall we will be fine because if you are going to be buying or selling a home, it will be delayed, right?"
The most popular style of home sold was a ranch.