Like we mentioned last week, anything can happen…especially while things are changing at such a rapid pace. Anything is possible! At this moment in time, it is hard to tell if there will be a housing crisis or not. There are many people who say that it is likely that the housing market is affected negatively due to the virus and the economic downfall.
What has already happened are listing prices decreasing and some listings taken off the market all together. Not as many applications are also being done as well – especially in major cities. We also discussed last week that amount of mortgages that have gone into forbearance – it has increased by 1,000%! The less people are working, the more this will likely happen.
Some real estate agents have claimed that this is similar to what went on in the early 2000s. What we are currently facing has to do with the fact that most homeowners are not making the kind of money they were. If it is temporary and there is an end in sight, things will get better. But we are still at a point where no one knows what the future is going to bring. The inability to pay is different than what happened in the early 2000s. That had to do with issues with financing.
Since we are based out of Florida, we wanted to make mention that half of the fifty of the most vulnerable counties are located in Florida and New Jersey. Ten of these counties are located in central and north Florida. Flagler County is actually included on this list. It is possible that these are potential foreclosure hotspots.
While there is nothing that can really be done at the moment it is good to be aware of what is going on around you. (Or potentially going on around you.) Lets hope that if it gets bad in our county that somehow things will be able to bounce back quickly!