Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • July 13, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 19 school districts, large yards, and garden, office and swimming pool areas were some of the top desired features for prospective homebuyers this spring, Realtors said. "If homes are what the buyer con- siders move-in ready, they are lasting just days, or hours, on the market," Clemens added. "The majority of our buyer clients are dealing with mul- tiple bids, which is kind of wild." Vincent Verrillo, a broker at The Verrillo Group in Farmington, said homes listed $400,000 or lower are "literally flying off the shelf" especially after federal regulators in May clari- fied that borrowers in COVID-19-re- lated forbearance can still refinance or buy a new home once they make up missed payments. "As fast as we list them, they are going into multiple bids and I've had several clients lose out on several attempts," Verrillo said. "It's been purely insane out there." Verrillo said economic damage caused by coronavirus got rid of "the window shoppers," and brought out the serious buyers, including those purchasing their first homes. Many younger buyers, he said, are becom- ing more willing to purchase older homes in need of costly improve- ments. That's because they have more leisure time to make value- driven upgrades to their home. "Our biggest market right now is the entry level, move-up type of buyer that needs more space because they're changing requirements with the work- at-home orders," he said. "In the past, many of these older houses were left for the contractors to buy and flip." After a lull in April, Hartford County showings began to skyrock- et in May from about 2,100 to 4,100 showings a day, according to MLS data provided by The Miale Team. That came as new listings spiked from 162 in the first week of April to 303 in the final week of May. The increase in activity, accord- ing to Diane McAdams, a Realtor serving as president of the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors, coincided with Connecticut's phased economic reopening, which started May 20. Realtors at the time quickly ramped up the use of virtual show- ings and other safety precautions — including the use of face masks, enhanced sanitation and social dis- tancing — during in-person tours. Low supply and high demand, Mc- Adams agreed, are pushing the busy spring homebuying season into the summer months. She expects demand and prices to remain strong into the fall with a total potential 4% bump in prices by year-end. "Because we missed some of the spring market, we might just keep on cruising throughout the sum- mer," McAdams said. "Sales slow down in August. But we may not see that this year." Realtors say homes in Greater Hartford are in high demand after COVID-19 shied some potential sellers from entering the 2020 spring market. Greater Hartford home prices have increased each month since COVID-19 started to spread across Connecticut in mid-March. PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED WHO IS YOUR HERO ON THE FRONT LINES? GO TO >> HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM/HBJ-EVENTS GO TO >> HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM/HBJ-EVENTS CLICK ON HEALTHCARE HEROES & NOMINATE! NOMINATE TODAY DEADLINE 9/15 FEATURED HOST: PLATINUM SPONSOR: GOLD SPONSOR:

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