{"id":68068,"date":"2020-08-12T14:40:50","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T14:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/?p=68068"},"modified":"2020-08-12T14:40:50","modified_gmt":"2020-08-12T14:40:50","slug":"virus-may-have-actually-boosted-the-housing-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/?p=68068","title":{"rendered":"Virus May Have Actually Boosted the Housing Market"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"field field--name-field-summary field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item\">In earlier times, a pandemic + recession would have slowed the market, but today\u2019s unique circumstances seem to have sparked an even stronger demand for homeownership.<\/p>\n<p>SEATTLE \u2013 Three-quarters of homebuyers who plan to buy a home within the next 12 months say the coronavirus pandemic has impacted their homebuying plans \u2013 and one in four (25%) says it caused them to move faster or speed up their timeline.<\/p>\n<p>However, one in five (20%) say they\u2019ve postponed homeownership, and 17% are now looking at less expensive homes, according to a survey conducted by Redfin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomewhat counterintuitively, the coronavirus-driven recession is propping up the housing market,\u201d says Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. He says homebuyer demand surged in the second quarter of 2020 even though GDP took a nosedive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmericans value the home more than ever and are willing to prioritize housing even as they cut back on other expenses,\u201d says Fairweather. \u201cAdditionally, the Fed is using low interest rates to stimulate the economy, which is giving buyers more purchasing power and boosting home sales. But even with low rates, widespread unemployment and financial uncertainty mean not everyone who wants to buy a home is able to\u201d do so.<\/p>\n<p>The pandemic\u2019s most common homebuyer impact is a desire for more space: 21% of respondents want a designated area to work from home and 21% want more outdoor space; in addition, 10% of respondents now want a bigger home, and 7% want a designated space for children to learn from home.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the pandemic first hit, a few buyers canceled contracts due to economic uncertainty and concerns about potential layoffs,\u201d says Phoenix Redfin agent Thomas Wiederstein. \u201cI\u2019ve also had some clients take breaks from searching because they don\u2019t know how the economic situation is going to play out.<\/p>\n<p>But then there\u2019s the other side,\u201d says Wiederstein, \u201cthose who are encouraged by low mortgage rates, sitting around in their tiny apartment dreaming of the space a single-family home can offer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>By Kerry Smith<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In earlier times, a pandemic + recession would have slowed the market, but today\u2019s unique circumstances seem to have sparked an even stronger demand for homeownership. SEATTLE \u2013 Three-quarters of homebuyers who plan to buy a home within the next 12 months say the coronavirus pandemic has impacted their homebuying plans \u2013 and one in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"saved","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68068"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68068"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68070,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68068\/revisions\/68070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}