CLICK HERE to view the March 2020 Kansas City Area Market Reports

As COVID-19’s impact spread across the country in March, the stock market declines started in February accelerated downward before recovering a bit in the last week of the month. With volatility across all the financial markets, lenders began tightening underwriting standards and some buyers found they no longer were approved for a loan. Massive layoffs also shook the economy with 6.6 million initial jobless claims filed in a single week—double the number last week and ten times higher than any other week on record prior to this month.

Closed Sales increased 3.2 percent for existing homes and 31.3 percent for new homes. Pending Sales decreased 0.8 percent for existing homes and 6.9 percent for new homes. Inventory decreased 22.7 percent for existing homes and 19.0 percent for new homes.

The Median Sales Price was up 6.9 percent to $208,500 for existing homes and 0.9 percent to $368,925 for new homes. Days on Market decreased 17.3 percent for existing homes but increased 15.7 percent for new homes. Supply decreased 22.2 percent for existing homes and 19.4 percent for new homes.

While the effect of COVID-19 is varied throughout the country, we are likely to see impacts to housing activity now and into the coming months. Its continued spread is leading many companies and consumers to change their daily activities. Showing Time is closely monitoring the situation and releasing daily updates on changes in showing activity.