Real estate market begins to rebound in Manchester
Since the governor opened up real estate as an “essential service” on May 7, Manchester has seen many new homes on the market.
As the market for real estate re-started statewide on May 7, local realtors and agents started hearing their phones ringing again for the first time in seven weeks.
“People have been waiting all spring to list their houses, and they are chomping at the bit,” said Pat Fielder, of Keller-Williams Realty in Ann Arbor. “The market is active and bids are coming in strong throughout the Washtenaw/Lenawee/Jackson area.”
“It was nice to get back to work on Thursday,” said Gene DeRossett of Real Estate One in Ann Arbor. “But over the past several weeks, the whole process has really changed. As the largest company in Michigan, Real Estate One has established several new protocols to assure everyone’s safety.”
These protocols include no more than four people at a time in a house; lights should all be left on, all doors should be left opened, and no one should touch anything inside the home. Everyone wears masks, gloves, and booties inside the home. “And we wipe the doorknob on the way out,” DeRossett added. “That’s about as safe as you can be.”
Danielle Hayden, team leader of The Hayden Group at Keller-Williams Ann Arbor, said that the past couple of months have been “chaotic.”
“We saw very little movement and frankly a lot of chaos at the beginning of it because there was very little clarity about how it affected current under-contract clients,” Hayden said. “In the beginning, we didn’t even know if our active deals would close. We did get through it, but it seemed to really hold back on launching any new listings shortly after the order.
“What I have seen since the governor’s announcement to make real estate an ‘essential service’ in a restricted fashion is that we have now seen a flood of listing inventory and are waiting to see if a matching flood of buyers is on its way as well to balance out inventory.”
Linda Milkey with ERA Reardon Realty in Brooklyn, feels overall optimistic about the market and intends to continue to be the best agent possible for her clients, but admits, “the reality is, this affecting people.” Employment concerns, financing concerns, and the uncertainty about how long the crisis will actually last are among the many things that might hold people back from either listing or buying a home.
“It’s an unusual situation right now,” Milkey says. “COVID has definitely changed things. We need to get a different mind set about how we will proceed going forward.”
“The market is different,” DeRossett agrees. “There are still buyers out there, and there will always be sellers. Currently, we have more buyers than properties to sell, but that keeps market moving forward. We are also lucky that in Washtenaw County, prices continue to go up. People are saying you could see a correction, but in most cases there’s multiple people interested in a move-in condition home.”
One thing each of the realtors agree upon is that the employment situation will need to improve before they will see a full-blown recovery in the market.
“As of March 1, I was on track to have my best year ever,” Fielder said. “I had tons of people lined up. But if unemployment doesn’t go away, obviously we are going to have big problems.
DeRossett added, “I had one client who was just days away from closing … and had to withdraw their offer because of the uncertainty in their jobs. When people get back to work, I think the uneasiness about the economy will resolve and we’ll see a strong market again, but it will take time to get used to all the changes.”
Hayden said, “The question remains what will happen to the listing inventory in the next three to six months as people are unable to pay their mortgages. Basically, right now we have an amazing sweet spot for buyers and sellers–sellers are likely to still be able to command a high price and buyers are likely to be able to buy themselves peace of mind for the next 30 years at a very low interest rate, that we may never see again frankly. If they can borrow money now at a super low rate and actually build wealth by putting some of that money towards their own equity, there’s a great opportunity right now … even though we are facing future uncertainty.”
Milkey added, “In some cases, I have heard of buyers who were considering moving up into a larger home, and due to the current situation, they have re-evaluated and made the decision that they are comfortable where they are right now, and where they know they can make their payments for the foreseeable future.”
All of the realtors and agents are feeling cautiously optimistic about the prospects for both buyers and sellers, in Manchester and the surrounding area.
“As long as the curve (of the virus) continues to decline, I think there will be a lot of new listings in the coming weeks,” Fielder said. “I’m getting a lot of calls to list–I think we’ll see a lot of new homes on the market in a week or two.”
DeRossett said, “Manchester is a unique community. A lot of people have moved here because they like it here. They want to get away from the faster pace. But we are still off the beaten track. There are certain things that draw people here, rather than to other communities in Washtenaw County.”
Hayden added, “We are all sort of fumbling around in the dark, wondering what kind of spring market we are walking into. We are checking in with lenders about the number of pre-approvals they are writing for new purchases. The lenders that I have spoken to have indicated that they are still writing a large amount of pre-approval letters. I believe people are aiming to take advantage of the record low interest rates; they can get quite a bit of house for the same amount of money.”
“There are just so many stories out there,” Milkey concluded. “Sellers, buyers, agents, and lenders … everyone has a story and each one is different. We just need to remain optimistic.”
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