a new pace for housing supply and demand
The voluntary shutdown of much of the US economy has reduced employment across the country and slowed real estate activity in King County. While current conditions are expected to prevail for the next few months, they remain temporary.
25% (on a year-over-year basis). As with sales, each home type experienced a similar drop in supply, with residential homes for sale down 31% and condo inventory down 20%. For now, this feature of our current circumstances differs fromwhat might be typically seen during a traditional economic downturn--an increase in homes available for sale--thanks to well-functioning credit markets, the financial support being provided to businesses and households by different levels of government, and the relative resilience of the Pacific Northwest’s labour market. We expect this new “reduced” equilibrium to prevail in the short-term, with buyers and sellers slowly re-entering the market in the coming months. While we remain in the throes of this figurative boxing match, we remain confident in our collective ability to come out on top as we progress from one round to the next.
population working or looking for work) fell by 2.5 percentage points in April, to 60.2%--its lowest level since January 1973. The unprecedented nature of the changing employment landscape across the country truly underscores the importance of the extraordinary fiscal and Federal Reserve policy responses aimed at supporting Americans during this temporary downturn. In light of these changes, it wasn’t particularly surprising that MLS closed sales counts were down in King County in April: overall, sales were 31% lower than the same month last year, with residential sales down 29% and condo sales down by 34%. Despite this regularly-cited--and widespread- -decline in demand, it is important to acknowledge that the market has remained relatively balanced. This is because the number of homes for sale (supply) has also fallen, by
In last month’s rennie review commentary, we likened our challenge of managing the economy through these unprecedented times to being in a heavyweight boxing match that is all but guaranteed to go 12 rounds. We are currently only a few rounds in and, as expected, we’re absorbing body blows in the form of employment and housing metrics that are more dramatic than they are unexpected, describing an economy that slowed measurably last month. Nationally, the unemployment rate rose to 14.7% in April, far exceeding the peak reached during the Great Recession (of 10%), on the back of nonfarm payroll employment falling by 20.5 million over the course of the month. All sectors are being impacted, but it is leisure and hospitality that are shouldering a more- than-proportional share of the downturn. Overall, the US labour force participation rate (measured as the proportion of the 15-plus
Copyright © 2020 rennie group of companies. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced or distributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the rennie group of companies. Current as of May 14, 2020. All data from Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley & Rennie. While the information and data contained herein has been obtained from sources deemed reliable, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. rennie group of companies does not assume responsibility or liability for any inaccuracies. The recipient of the information should take steps as the recipient may deem necessary to verify the information prior to placing any reliance upon the information. The information contained within this report should not be used as an opinion of value, such opinions should and can be obtained from a rennie and associates advisor. All information is subject to change and any property may be withdrawn from the market at any time without notice or obligation to the recipient from rennie group of companies. E.&O.E. 3
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