Shannon Buss is the president of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. She spoke to the Providence Business News about the economic impact of the coronavirus on residential real estate activity.
PBN: How has the pandemic affected the residential real estate business in Rhode Island? We’re in the middle of the spring buying season. Overnight, has that changed?
BUSS: No. Interest rates are very low. And inventory is very low. There is definitely a demand. The way we’re showing houses has changed.
PBN: Whenever someone is threatened by a job loss, or the potential of one, they hold off on buying. Hasn’t this dampened demand?
BUSS: I’ve been in talks with a lot of Realtors over the last few days. And many are writing contracts. I’m not hearing about a lot of deals falling apart. Things are changing by the minute. These are unprecedented circumstances. So, we’re just kind of going with it and figuring it out as we go. But so far, it’s been business as usual with some modifications.
PBN: How have open houses changed?
BUSS: Starting this past weekend we really started seeing a shift. The governor announced no crowds over 25 [people]. Before that, the attitude was business as usual, until we hear differently. Then things started changing. Now, I’ve seen many agents are shifting to FaceTime Live open houses. It’s basically a video walk through of the property, but it happens live as opposed to prerecorded. That’s been one of the solutions. But a lot of agents are trying to shift to video as an alternative.
PBN: Have you had situations with more than 25 people at a time in open houses?
BUSS: The problem is the potential. What if? And if you’re hosting an open house by yourself, how do you control it? No. 1, it’s mandated by the governor. No. 2, most sellers aren’t comfortable with having that amount of traffic through their home right now. We’re really trying to work with buyers and sellers and adapt to what their comfort level is.
The National Association of Realtors has provided a lot of guidance to us, but it’s still broad because every state is different. Each brokerage maybe has their own set of guidelines. I can tell you my company has put a hiatus on open houses for the time being.
PBN: How has financing been affected? Are lenders still approving mortgages?
BUSS: They are. They’re writing new loans. The biggest thing for them is the past few weeks have created a lot of traffic with refinances. I’m not sure how that’s going to affect them.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
