Home prices have been rising for several years now. A combination of increasing buyer demand and a lower-than-normal number of homes for sale led to more competition among home shoppers and put upward pressure on prices. That’s why most of the discussion about where the housing market was headed this year focused on the number of available homes for sale. If more homes became available, it would help keep prices from climbing too quickly. If inventory stayed low or fell further, price increases might begin to accelerate. Now, due to the coronavirus, there is more uncertainty. But, according to some analysts, the housing market – and home prices – are well positioned to withstand the effects of any upcoming volatility. Mostly, this is because the market’s main challenge was there not being enough homes to keep up with demand from buyers. If demand were to temporarily decline, price increases may slow but something similar to the crashing values seen during the financial crisis would be unlikely. Naturally, there are still a lot of unknowns but the strength of the market and the balance of supply vs. demand should help provide the real-estate market with some stability in the days ahead. (source)
