New listings are becoming more plentiful now and for the third quarter of 2020 they are up around 8% compared with 2019 and 2018. This is an important development, but as yet it has had little effect on active listing counts because demand has become even stronger thanks to buyer enthusiasm and the fall in loan interest rates.
Prices are rising fast and, over the long term, this tends to incent owners to sell, particularly those who do not live in their properties. Many landlords currently feel hard done by, since the governor’s freeze on evictions until October 31 means they may not be receiving rent from many of their tenants, yet are still paying their property expenses. Many landlords, especially those who have mortgages on their properties, tend to operate on fairly slim profit margins, with long term compensation in the form of gains in their asset values over time. Right now their assets are gaining a lot of value, but in some cases their cash flows from rent are looking dismal. It would not be surprising if at least some of these landlords decide to cash out while the going is good, rather than hang on to properties that fail to cash flow for many months. In today’s market those homes will sell very quickly at strong prices.
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