CONNECTICUT, USA — The COVID-19 pandemic has made Connecticut a seller's market and according to real estate experts, now is the time to sell.
From virtual to in-person, touring a home for sale is a little bit different nowadays amid COVID-19. In Connecticut, the real estate industry has operated through the pandemic as essential business, but the market slowed down dramatically in March and April, a time typically busy for buyers and sellers.
“This spring we saw listings fall off the cliff. Everyone was hunkering down wondering what’s happening to the housing market,” Zillow economist Jeff Tucker said. “These buyers motivated by low mortgage rates are expecting to find a really good deal but there are fewer homes on the market."
National and local real estate experts said business is booming, but buyers have come back sooner than sellers. The median sales price of a home in both Hartford and New Haven is rising according to Smart MLS data.
Chelsea Gonzalez is a real estate agent at Classic Homes Group in Glastonbury who brings face masks and gloves for her clients. She said sellers are seeing multiple offers and are selling over asking price nearly every time.
“I had another pair of clients a couple of weeks ago in the same area, East Hartford, put in an offer of $20,000 over asking, they didn't get the home,” Gonzalez said.
Elaine Abouakar sells homes throughout Hartford, Tolland, and Windham counties. She said agents across the state agree now may be a good time to purchase a home due to those low mortgage rates allowing buyers to get more bang for their buck, but the ball remains in the seller’s court.
“Even if the quiet towns that have only a handful of houses, like Higganum, those houses are moving just a few days on markets,” Abouakar said. “For anybody who has been thinking about selling now is a wonderful time because prices are appreciating, with these multiple offers driving up, so folks in Connecticut can finally cash in on the equity that they’ve been sitting on over the years.”