By Angela Gonzales | Phoenix Business Journal
Nervous about potential pay cuts, furloughs and unemployment, homebuyers are hitting the pause button when it comes to buying a new home.
While homebuilder sales offices remain open, demand for homes has plummeted with the stay-in-place mandate in effect, said Jim Belfiore, founder of Belfiore Real Estate Consulting.
At the same time, home prices have risen during the past 30 days, he said.
“Supply is just so low right now that a temporary shutdown is not going to be a big issue for homebuilders or for resellers,” Belfiore said.
Belfiore feels the Valley’s housing market is sitting on solid ground for the next three months, with home-building activity remaining healthy and supply remaining low.
Belfiore said he expects to see homebuilders offering incentives over the next few months to stimulate demand, but he still doesn’t envision home prices declining.
“Little inventory exists, and homes being purchased are being occupied immediately,” he said.
Mortgage interest rates, which are starting to creep back up, may hit new historic lows when the COVID-19 disease challenges and risks subside, he said.
“Lower rates translate into increased purchasing power and significantly lower monthly payments” he said.
Brad Schoenberg, Phoenix division president for Taylor Morrison Home Corp., said his team is pushing full steam ahead in the Scottsdale-based homebuilder’s new virtual selling environment across all communities.
Customers also are given the option to close on their home with a curbside closing for safe social distancing, he said.
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