(WXYZZ) — Spring and summer are the seasons for home shopping, but the market is different this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
After months with no in-person showings, homebuyers are out there making offers in a new, more competitive landscape.
“It's crazy right now out there in the real estate world,” Sherri Odell said.
Odell and her family just bought their dream home in Webberville. She said the hunt for a new home took over a year.
Jeanette Schneider from ReMax said in many cases, people are getting multiple offers and the competition is high.
She said when real estate opened back up, buyers came out in full force, but sellers have been more tentative.
New listings were down 21% in May, but home showings were up 6%.
“When you just don't have enough of the supply, buyers will start to outbid each other," Schneider said.
That's what's happening in metro Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan's two largest metro areas.
If you don't have to move now, consider waiting until fall. That's historically a less competitive time of year.
But, if you want to get settled before the start of school, Schneider said to know what you can afford, get pre-approved and be ready to strike with your strongest offer.
“You have other tools at your disposal. You might be willing to give the sellers more time in the home and that might be more attractive to them than the price that you're paying,” she said.
If you're a seller, Schneider said she's confident you'll find buyers.
Odell said after finding their dream home, they put their house in White Lake up for sale. It was sold within one day of being on the market.
The course of the pandemic will shape the future of the real estate market for the rest of this year and into 2021. If the economy rebounds, more buyers and sellers will come off sidelines and into the market.
If the virus forces another lockdown, Schneider says realtors and others in the home selling industry learned a lot about how to show homes and more deals forward during the pandemic and that knowledge is there if it's needed again.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Michigan, a timeline of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Southeast Michigan, and links to more information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC and the WHO.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
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Visit our The Rebound Detroit, a place where we are working to help people impacted financially from the coronavirus. We have all the information on everything available to help you through this crisis and how to access it.