Despite COVID-19, the local real estate marketing is heating up – Business – The Ames Tribune

COVID-19 has dampened many industries in the United States, but the local real estate market is starting to warm in Story County.

Home sales fell in mid-March, but those numbers recovered a few weeks later, said Paul Livingston, a real estate agent with Hunizker and Associates.

“Interesting, [the current market] may be better than expected, ”said Livingston. “Certainly there are some fears and fears that we recognize. There are certainly a number of home buyers who don’t want to postpone their buying decisions. So they are willing to take the precautions for who we are and we make offers and their sales, and so it is really, really, really good. “

While the spring and summer months are the busiest time for real estate agents including Hunziker in Ames, COVID-19 has not impacted Story County’s real estate industry nearly as much as other areas of the country.

Over the past 15 years, Hunziker made an average of 72 sales in March, and despite the ongoing pandemic, the team sold 70 homes this March, Livingston said.

In April, the real estate company sold 68 homes, only three fewer than the 15-year average.

Taylor Rodamer, executive committee of the Central Iowa Board of Realtors, said agents across Central Iowa had seen the same trend.

“We are actually better now than last year at this time,” said Rodamer. “But I’m saying this with caution because last year we actually went down compared to 2018.”

The association represents 35 agents and more than 400 members in Ames, Boone, Nevada, Huxley, Story City and many other communities in central Iowa. In April, they reported a 20% year-over-year increase in home sales.

ShowingTime.com, which provides statistics and software to brokers across Iowa, saw a decrease in the number of screenings across the central part of the state from March 13 to April 5. As of May 17th, however, the number of weekly screenings a year ago has increased by 73%.

“There was a huge surge in sales as soon as May hit and the number of outstanding sales is even higher than last year,” said Whitney Funkhouser, agent for Century 21 Signature Real Estate in Ames.

While the number of buyers seems to be back on track, if no better than real estate experts expected, there has been a plethora of changes in the residential real estate business as a result of the pandemic.

Local companies like Century 21 switched almost exclusively to virtual demonstrations at the end of March. The meetings were switched from personal to virtual via Zoom. If a buyer was interested in visiting a home in person, there were numerous security measures in place by both companies, according to official reports.

“We never completely stopped doing personal demonstrations, but we just made them safer,” said Funkhouser. “Depending on what the seller wanted to do, some people needed face masks and gloves while others just needed ankle boots.”

Funkhouser said these changes have made people feel more comfortable about buying a home in the past few weeks, but many across the industry say there is a potentially big problem looming: not enough inventory.

“We really need inventory. We need more houses to sell, ”said Livingston. “It’s not as bad as it was three years ago, but we definitely need more choice for buyers and … encourage sellers that there is a safe way for real estate agents to list a property.”

Iowa saw 84 fewer homes launched in April than in the same period in 2020, which many believe is due to the spread of COVID-19, Rodamer said.

However, many real estate experts believe there will be an influx of sellers in the near future.

“As the risk of infection decreases – which, who knows, how long it will take – there will definitely be a pent-up demand for a group of people who planned to list their homes in April,” Funkhouser said. “Maybe they will all list their homes later this year or even next year, but at some point supply and demand will correct themselves.”

As soon as that day comes and home supply and demand balance, many real estate agents believe that virtual demonstrations will stay here and be used more in the future.

“We’ll likely still be focusing on digital virtual marketing to narrow down the first round of homes that buyers may or may not be interested in,” Funkhouser said. “I think we can keep in touch with Zoom meetings and FaceTime as real estate agents are more comfortable in front of a camera.”