Colorado Sun: Coronavirus Isn’t Stopping Coloradans from Selling Their Homes. And Some Are Even Still Going for a Premium
The Colorado Sun recently spoke with several Colorado REALTORS on the state of the Colorado housing market in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they’re working to meet the needs of their clients.
“The last recession in 2008 almost shut us down,” said Ann Hayes, a REALTOR® in Grand Junction. “It’s very different (now). They (home sales) weren’t happening because there just wasn’t a buyer out there. With this one, it’s the impact that we don’t know — when businesses do reopen, who’s going to have a job or what kind of a job is it going to be?”
Real estate has been deemed an “essential business” by Gov. Jared Polis, but agents must take proper social distancing measures to protect everyone’s health. For example, in lieu of open houses, REALTORS are now employing 3D virtual tours of properties.
Fort Collins REALTOR® Chris Hardy explained that 3D tours “used to be reserved for larger, higher priced homes, but with the increase in online viewers and especially now with the public health orders on nonessential travel, these kind of tours are indispensable if you want potential buyers to really see all aspects of a home without actually visiting in person.”
Boulder-area REALTOR® Kelly Moye said, “Online views have skyrocketed. In-person views have totally fallen. That’s what you’d expect. But even with that, we only had 5% fewer houses go under contract” in the last week of March, she said. “So, in other words, people are still buying them.”
Matt Leprino, a Denver REALTOR® , said that as of April there has been a decrease in the number of active listings.
“My gut tells me that the vast lion’s share are people who are taking their home off the market and will reintroduce it once showings come back on,” he said.