Richard Szerman of Alta Realty Group recently joined the Tori & Kyle Morning show to discuss the climate of the housing market, the repercussions due to COVID-19 and some harsh predictions that are to come after the dust has settled.

Richard Szerman works with Alta Realty and assists all with questions on their mortgages, real estate market concerns, and foreclosures concerns, they do this all for free and are just a phone call away.

How Has COVID-19 Affected Our Housing Market?

With COVID-19 causing major changes and hiccups in the housing market, the prices in some areas are “way up”, at about 14% to give a number, Szerman said. The low inventory in the real estate market is also one of the other primary outcomes of the pandemic.

A primary reason for the low inventory is the fact that a majority of homeowners are simply just not placing their homes on the market if they don’t have to. In the middle of a pandemic, having strangers in and out of your house just is not the best practice for most families.

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Additionally, during the Trump Administration we saw how they had a major effect on the housing market with their low interest rate policy that was implemented, Szerman said. Although this seemed to be a good thing, when you take a market that was set for a decline and artificially boost it up, you “create a bubble”.

Taking Advantage of the Market

While many may be in both bad and good standing during this time, if you can take advantage and make a profit above the asking price of your prosperity, then you should be. In areas such as Thousand Oaks, California, a home that was listed at $800,000 sold for an extra $100,000.

People looking to buy are going to flash their wallets and people looking to sell are going to take the best offer, Szerman said.

According to Szerman, if the market was up for a 6% drop that never happened and the rate has increased, when the market corrects the “bottom will be at about 20%”, which will hurt many.

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