Palm Beach County issued Emergency Order #2 on March 26 to minimize the spread of COVID-19 which requires all non-critical businesses to shut down in the county. Included is a provision for REALTORS® which states that we are permitted to see our current transactions through to closing in accordance with CDC and FDOH requirements, but all future work must be conducted remotely and electronically. What does this mean for us? We can continue practicing real estate including listing homes, but we are not allowed to meet physically with our clients or customers. All showings must occur virtually, with no other parties being present.
Up until this order was effective, there were sporadic showings and activity taking place during the month of March. We will continue to monitor the market trends and report to you on this blog.
Here is the latest activity for the week of March 23-March 29, 2020:
Weekly Activity over $1,000,000
These numbers represent residential listings in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Highland Beach with a list price of $1,000,000 or more. Closings are still happening, but those mostly reflect transactions that were signed in February, so the number of closings is a lagging indicator of market activity. New listings declined over 50% from the previous week, which was already down significantly. 31 properties were taken off the market, which is an 82% increase over last week, and over four times the numbers from the first two weeks of March. The percentage of properties with accepted offers was 14% as of March 30, 2020.
Weekly Activity over $200,000 
These represent residential listings in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Highland Beach with a list price of $200,000 or more. New listings declined 28% and closed sales declined 10% from last week. Interestingly, new pendings (homes that had an accepted offer) increased 95% from the previous week. So people are still buying homes. As in the $1M+ category, there was a huge jump in properties taken off the market. The percentage of properties with accepted offers was 25% as of March 30, 2020.
Want to know more?
All of our lives have been upended in ways none of us could have imagined. Our agents at Boca Expert Realty are always here to be your reliable source of relevant information and to help you navigate the local market. Please do not hesitate to reach out and contact us for a customized look at the latest conditions for the Boca Raton real estate market and beyond.
Posted by Gloria Singer on
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