Kim's Real Estate Chat - November 2020 Real Estate Market Update

Kim Patterson Finch
Nov 20, 2020
2 min read

Updated: Nov 23, 2020

A lot of worry started about the economy because of the Covid 19 pandemic. The nice thing is that the real estate market as NOT been negatively affected by it.

First, the government helped with the stimulus checks. Second, there is a shortage of homes on the market. Third, interest rates are insanely low!

What did American's do with the their Covid stimulus checks?

It is interesting to see how diverse the answers are about what owners did with their Covid stimulus checks. It is really split evenly. I know a lot of people needed the help!

How Has Consumer Spending Changed Since Covid and the Beginning of 2020?

Utah consumer spending has actually increased, however most of the United States decreased in consumer spending. I wonder how much of it was hoarding and how much of it is people investing in their hobbies during their additional time at home.

Should We Worry about a Foreclosure Crisis in Utah?

No. The number of distressed properties in September 2020 is less than 1 percent. This is even after the shutdown for the pandemic in the spring.

So What is Driving the Real Estate market?

First, there are fewer homes on the market. There are three main reasons people are not putting their home up for sale. 1. Financial uncertainty. 2. Life uncertainty and 3. Covid-19 health concerns

This has resulted in lower inventory than we have seen in years!

New construction is in high demand as well. Most builders are sold out for the next year. One builder that I like for my investors, listed 8 homes and all were gone in less than 2 days.

The graph below about year over year inventory is really interesting!

The second reason there is such a demand for homes is low mortgage rates. I can't believe how low they are! Even investors are getting great interest rates when putting at least 50 percent down.