By Riley Driscoll (rkd24@txstate.edu)
The 2020 Coronavirus pandemic has affected the real estate market differently on a state-to-state basis, with depreciation in home buying and selling evident for some, while others are managing to stay afloat.
Some states- like New York and California – have suffered more, because many cities there are still completely shut down to date in many ways (such as places like restaurants and gyms remaining closed).
According to an article published by The New York Times, “Some buildings and sellers have put the kibosh on open houses altogether – a big shift for New Yorkers who have long appreciated the ease and efficiency of hitting three open houses on one weekend day”.
Other states, like Texas, for example, are adjusting their protocol per realtor/company to fit the new normal.
“We’re doing all we can to ensure the safety of our buyers by keeping visits to a minimum, requiring masks, supplying plenty of hand sanitizer, along with many other guidelines,” said San Marcos realtor Erin Fowler
The pandemic has also affected people on the other end—homebuyers.
Buying a home during COVID-19 has some upsides, as well as some downsides. One upside is that interest rates are at an all time low, so you can find a really good deal if you’re able to acquire a mortgage.
Freeman family in their new home! 
Finding self-guided home tours via the OpenDoor app. 
Self-guided open house found using the OpenDoor app. 
Opening the door for our self-guided tour. 
Open House in San Marcos, TX. (Masks required) 
Using Zillow to virtually tour homes that are for sale. 
House for sale in San Marcos, TX.
A downside to buying a home right now is that many people have decided to wait until the pandemic is over to sell their house. This means that inventory is very low at the moment, and people looking to buy a home might not have a lot to choose from, where as if they waited they would have more options.
One recent homebuyer from Texas, Aerial Estrada, says that the home buying process was fairly smooth for her. She says even though her and her family didn’t get to tour many of the houses they were looking at, they were still very confident when it came to choosing their new home.
“Although we weren’t able to view every house in person, there were alternative ways to view the homes such as pictures and video tours,” said Estrada. “The process was a lot smoother than I had expected and my family and I are very pleased with the outcome.”
