New data from the Central Illinois Board of Realtors shows the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the local housing market.
There were 46 home listings in Vermilion County during the first half of April last year. This year the number dropped to 28, representing a decline of over 39-percent.
Properties under contract in Vermilion County – or those often referred to as ‘pending sales’ – dropped 50-percent during the first half of April this year compared to the same period a year ago. The number fell from 41 to 20.
Paul Brown, AE/CEO of the Central Illinois Board of Realtors, says the drop is certainly expected with the governor’s ‘stay at home’ order and personal choice of some agents who decided not to show properties during the national health emergency.
There were 21 sales closed during the first half of April this year compared to 36 a year ago. Most of those would have been in the sales pipeline since late February or early March, according to Brown. He added some closings were cancelled or delayed because the borrowers are currently not working. Most borrowers pursue secondary market financing (Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac) which requires verification of active employment at the time of closing. If the borrower has been laid off or furloughed, Brown says the transactions will likely not occur until after the person has returned to work. He says that is especially true with non-essential self-employed borrowers.
