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The future of real estate across the region
With more and more people finding it hard to make ends meet, no-one really knows what the future holds for the real estate market in our area. Experts say that we may see a busy home shopping season, but realtors say they haven't seen houses being sold at all.
NEW YORK - With more and more people finding it hard to make ends meet, no-one really knows what the future holds for the real estate market in our area.
New home sales have reportedly plunged to a historic low. According to StreetEasy NYC, new sale inventory is down a whopping 85 percent in the five boroughs. The company says 717 new homes were listed in April, a decline of more than 4,300 from 2019.
Hal Gavzie, a realtor for Douglas Elliman, says that with sales at a virtual halt, rentals are beginning to slowly tick upwards. In fact, Gavzie says inquiries on rentals are mainly in Manhattan and Brooklyn and have increased considerably in the last three weeks.
“We are doing, let’s call it 25 percent of our business that we did last year on the rentals,” Gavzie said.
But real estate, especially sales, cannot make that comeback until parts of the region enter into Phase 2 of New York’s reopening plan. New York City is still yet to reach Phase 1.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran has expressed optimism that the real estate market could be a game-changer in the coming weeks, and experts agree.
“With mortgage rates being at all-time lows and New York having so much inventory and choices for people, we’re geared up for a pretty busy home shopping season,” said Nancy Wu, an economist for StreetEasy.
Whenever Phase 2 does ultimately begin, the real determination of the success of the real estate market is whether or not there will be a rush of homeowners selling off to move away or a rush of buyers who still dream of owning that coveted New York City apartment.