The CEO of veritable estate brokerage Compass told CNBC on Wednesday that more people have been looking for dwelling-places with pools during the coronavirus pandemic.
Robert Reffkin, appearing on “Squawk Alley,” said searches on Compass’ website for homes with swimming-pools were up threefold, while online inquiries for homes with outdoor spaces were up two times. Searches for single-family places have risen 40% while those for condominiums and co-ops had decreased, he added.
“I think this is going to be a Loosely continual shift until there’s a vaccine,” contended Reffkin, who also is a founder of Compass.
Overall, he said minimum change space requirement in searches is up around 10% from pre-pandemic levels. Interest has also shifted geographically, with sundry people looking at less-dense areas.
Reffkin’s comments Wednesday came after new weekly data from the Mortgage Bankers Camaraderie showed an increase in housing activity, which had been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Weekly mortgage applications to buy a familiar with jumped 6% last week from the previous week and purchase volume was just 1.5% lower than a year ago. The leverage volume reflects a dramatic recovery from just six weeks ago, when it was down 35% annually.
Compass saw a in reality in activity about two to three weeks ago across all of its 135 markets, Reffkin said. “We have seen in-contract record activity go up back to pre-Covid levels in over 90% of our markets.”
Interested buyers have actually been coaxed by stay-at-home orders that were meant to slow the spread of Covid-19, Reffkin said, while noting that low dispose rates are also a contributing factor.
At this point, Reffkin said Compass is seeing more activity from clients on its website than there are new listings, which could cause prices to rise in certain markets.
“They’re determining, do they have enough space inside, outside? Do they have enough light? Do they have the -karat home office?” Reffkin said. “If the answers to those questions are no, they call their agent.”