By Angela Gonzales | Phoenix Business Journal
While homebuilders were expecting a strong selling season this spring before COVID-19 hit, the impact of stay-at-home orders wasn’t as painful as expected as they pivoted to offer virtual and appointment-only tours.
From entry-level to luxury properties, homebuilders experienced better April sales than they did in March, when the first stay-at-home orders were enacted and most homebuilders closed their sales offices.
“We actually lost business in March,” said Rod Cullum, president of Scottsdale-based Cullum Homes, which builds luxury homes mainly in Scottsdale and northeast Phoenix.
Usually, Cullum averages 20 to 25 home sales a year, priced between $1.5 million and $5.5 million, and this time of year he’s usually seeing one to two sales a month.
“We did better than that,” he said. “We did over $11 million in sales in April. In March it was about a third of that. March was more tenuous.”
Cullum, who has offered virtual tours of homes for the past four years, said he’s seen fewer lookie-loos and more serious buyers.
“The quality of that buyer is way up,” he said.
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