Like every industry, Halifax’s real estate market has taken a hit from coronavirus.
“Overall, yes, the market’s down quite a bit as with everybody else, but there’s still business happening,” says James Dwyer, a real estate agent with Engel & Volkers in Bedford.
Dwyer says in-person viewings are down almost 75 per cent compared to this time last year. But his colleagues have found interesting ways to adapt to new social distancing measures.
“As an industry, we’re made up of the entrepreneurial spirit, and so a lot of the ways we do business has evolved and grown with the situation that we’re in,” he tells NEWS 95.7’s The Todd Veinotte Show.
Things like virtual tours, video chats, and floor plans have made it easier for buyers to get information about potential homes.
“We’ve really amped up on aspects that can create an environment where a buyer does not necessarily need to be in a home,” says Dwyer.
But Dwyer says that most buyers and sellers have opted to take their home off the market or pause their house-hunt for the time being.
“They said well we just don’t feel quite 100 per cent comfortable. Then, we’ll re-list when things start back up again,” he explains.
For the large portion of the market that depends on Canadian military postings, the season has been delayed.
“Our spring market is always driven by military transfers, so that entire side of our industry is still there,” says Dwyer. “And they’re just waiting for their house-hunting trips to start when the time comes that they’re able to do that.”
Although the majority of people are choosing not to buy or sell right now, Dwyer says there are some that have already planned a move.
“There are people out there that have no choice but to buy, they have no choice but to sell, and that is a reality that we’re in right now,” he says.
But the real estate agent thinks that the restrictions now may lead to an increase in demand after the pandemic ends.
“What’s happening on the sidelines is getting really really big. So whether it’s buyers or sellers, there’s going to be a pent-up demand there,” Dwyer says.
However, Dwyer also says that the effects of coronavirus could mean people change their plans of putting their house on the market, or buying a new home.
“We see it on the other side of the coin where now we’ve had let’s say 1000 buyers and if only 500 can come back into the marketplace because of financial commitments made during this period of time and it ate into their savings,” he says.
Although no one can predict when or how the industry will emerge from the pandemic, Dwyer predicts that the seller’s market may not be as strong as it was before.
The worst-case scenario, I could see us maybe in the short term going from an extreme seller’s market to maybe a balanced market,” he says.
