Sioux Falls Housing Statistics & Real Estate Blog

June 03, 2020 by ShowingTime

While the effects of COVID-19 in the broader economy continue, real estate activity is beginning to recover across much of the country. According to Freddie Mac, mortgage rates have been below 3.3 percent for more than four weeks and are hovering near all-time lows, spurring strong interest by buyers and lifting showing activity up 4% nationally versus a year ago in the final week of May.

May 05, 2020 by ShowingTime

While the stock market recovered significantly in March, the effects of COVID-19 to the economy continue to build. In just the last four weeks, more than 20 million people filed initial unemployment claims according to the United States Department of Labor, fueled by stay at home orders and a slowdown of economic activity across the country. Added to the unemployment claims from March, more than 30 million people have become unemployed since COVID-19 has become widespread in the U.S. In the face of these challenging times, real estate activity in April slowed significantly.

April 05, 2020 by ShowingTime

As COVID-19’s impact spread across the country in March, the stock market declines started in February accelerated downward before recovering a bit in the last week of the month. With volatility across all the financial markets, lenders began tightening underwriting standards and some buyers found they no longer were approved for a loan. Massive layoffs also shook the economy with 3.28 million initial jobless claims filed in a single week—the highest in history more than four times over.

March 06, 2020 by ShowingTime

As we progressed through February, the actual and expected impacts of COVID-19 continued to grow, with concerns of economic impact reaching the stock market in the last week of the month. As the stock market declined, so did mortgage rates, offering a bad news-good news situation. While short term declines in the stock market can sting, borrowers who lock in today’s low rates will benefit significantly in the long term.

February 05, 2020 by ShowingTime

For 2020, The National Association of REALTORS® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun sees good news for home prices. “National median home price growth is in no danger of falling due to inventory shortages and will rise by 4%,” the long-term NAR economist predicts. He is also expecting the new-home construction market sales to increase 10%. Yun and others would like to see home builders bring more affordable units to market to help ease shortages and slow price gains in that segment.