BARNSTABLE – Barnstable County Register of Deeds Jack Meade has provided the monthly update on real estate activity on Cape Cod.
The county reported that the volume of real estate sales this April dropped 24.3% from April 2019, but the median individual sale value of properties saw a 5.7% uptick from last April.
The median sale price of property in the county was $400,500 this April.
Meade called the month “interesting,” but said that it was an overall strong period. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, though, could lead to more fluidity and uncertainty going forward.
“I expect more of the mortgage activity to continue into May,” Meade said, “but the sales activity may slow down.”
Meade said the deals that have recently been completed were initiated well beforehand, oftentimes a month or two before the closure of the deal, something he called a “trailing indicator.”
Because of that, he said the pandemic’s impact on the industry could continue.
Meade isn’t sure if people are still actively looking for homes, and that Realtors themselves likely have a better idea of how the touring landscape currently looks.
Some agents that he has spoken to have utilized virtual touring methods during the virus outbreak.
Compared to last April, there was a 36.5% increase in the mortgage activity volume, according to the county’s report. Mortgage volume has also seen an increase of 49.3% on the year to date.
Meade attributed a considerable part of the spike in mortgage volume on the year to date to low interest rates.
“Property values have been picking back up over the last couple of years. People have more equity in their homes as a result of that, along with the lower interest rates,” he said.
The volume of sales for the year to date is down 3.6%, according to Meade. The total value of sales is also down 1.4%, while the individual sales value is up 6.8%.
Meade does not see much correlation between the coronavirus situation and the housing crisis following the 2008 recession, as the virus’ outbreak emerged suddenly while the economy was in an otherwise strong position.
He is hopeful that the industry is able to get back to trending upwards and that there is not a long-term effect from the COVID-19 pandemic, as he said the fundamentals to the real estate market remain solid.
For more information, visit the Barnstable County Register of Deeds’ website by clicking here.
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