With the first full month of post-COVID-19 data in hand, it’s clear the Puget Sound housing market has been hit but not knocked out. the normally active spring market is significantly slower than normal due to COVID-19, but it has not come to a halt. It is responding to the current circumstances exactly as expected. As we look at the numbers for April, typically one of the most active months in regard to new listings, the impact of COVID-19 on the real estate market is now clear, although it was thought that it could have been worse.

The volume of new listings added during April was off 34.7% compared to the same month a year ago. Brokers added 7,641 new listings last month, down from both March when 10,291 new listings were added, and April 2019 when brokers added 11,697 new listings. Despite the slower activity, the months of supply improved only slightly, rising from the March figure of 1.4 months to 1.75 months of inventory at the end of April.

The market is “virtually sold out everywhere locally in the more affordable and mid-price ranges.” Buyer demands are coming forward. With historically low interest rates, the local market needs additional listings to meet pent-up demand from the backlog of buyers. We continue to see a shortage of inventory, along with multiple offers on newly listed homes, and we still have a backlog of buyers who line up (virtually) to view new listings. With exceptionally low interest rates, there is no change in sight only a slight increase in average market time for some listings, along with instances of multiple offers.