I've been watching 20+ properties around Austin, some out of genuine interest, others for a baseline. Zero of them moved in March and April despite asking price coming down every couple weeks. Now in the last couple weeks, 8 of them have had offers. I can't tell if they just dropped back into a "reasonable" range or some segment of the market has turned but it's fascinating.
My understanding is real estate was not essential here in Texas. Agents tried to do virtual showings but, come on, most people want to see a home before they submit an offer.
My anecdotal factor in Seattle is we have a set $/month in mind that is then tied to the price of the house. If a house will be more than $650k we can't afford it at this point, even with down payment help. If a house nearby falls to about $650k I'll walk over and check it out to build up examples of what is nice/not or what I like/dislike. The goal is to be able to buy next summer or the year after though so this is mostly experimental to gauge what is out there and identify what we'd like to buy vs pulling the trigger.
Yeah Atlanta had a similar "dip" period earilier, with many offers cancelled and investors on the sideline. Maybe the "reopen" gave people confidence? I'm afraid it is still too early to tell so I don't want to jump in too fast.
Home sales always peak when weather is nicer. As do leases for rentals. Leases that were ending a year from today are still ending, and some people are in a great place to buy a home, and inventory is incredibly low right now.
