How Vaccine Rollout Will Affect Housing Markets

Q: How will the coronavirus vaccine rollout affect housing? Curtis, Woodland Park, NJ

A: As COVID-19 vaccines slowly roll out, people are wondering what the impact will be on local housing markets. The chief economist at realtor.com recently said that “we’re going to settle somewhere in between where we were before COVID and where we were during COVID.”

She went on to say that “as the risk of serious illness declines because more people are vaccinated, we expect to see more sellers,” who may have chosen to delay selling their homes during the pandemic. Additional housing supply from previously skittish sellers is critical now after housing inventories hit an all-time low this past December.

The expansion of telecommuting amid the pandemic has expanded and evened out demand for housing to more remote areas beyond cities. However, as fear subsides more people will move back to cities as the economy opens. The chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders predicts that builders will construct as many as 1 million single-family homes and townhomes over the next year–this increase in housing supply may reduce the rapid increase in home prices that we’ve seen in many places during the pandemic.

Reduced fear of coronavirus infection as the vaccine continues to rollout should also increase jobs and incomes which more than anything else drive housing markets. Thanks for your question, Curtis.

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