Expert Advice from Amy & Kyle Bergquist at Keller Williams Legacy Partners
As the chart above clearly shows, the month of April did not conform to traditional spring market trends. Instead of the surging towards peak activity in April and May, the 2020 market reversed direction and recorded fewer contracts than were observed in January. For those interested in the magnitude, April lagged the same month in 2019 by about 37%. Despite the reversal, on a year-to-date basis the County is only trailing 2019 totals by 2.5%
Earlier in the month I wrote about the sudden reversal in the number of listings when comparing 2020 to 2019. I have been tracking that metric on a weekly basis, and the results have been more of the same. The original chart that I used to illustrate the dramatic shift is probably no longer the best way to visualize what is happening in the market. There is now enough data since the 2020 market transitioned
March contract totals gave no indication of the turmoil that Greater Hartford experienced during the month. The coronavirus pandemic arrived early in the month, closed schools beginning the week of 3/15, and resulted in a stay-at-home directive beginning the week of 3/22. Despite those unprecedented measures, the County finished the month with more signed contracts than March 2019. The cumulative contracts signed as of each day of the month showed no signs of a slowdown
February has one additional day in a leap year. It’s something to keep in mind when comparing stats to prior Februaries. That one extra day could make a difference since it gave agents 3.57% more time (1/28) to put together deals this February versus last year. As the chart above shows, this February’s performance overwhelmed last February’s performance. There was a 22% increase in the number of deals, which extended the results observed in January.
2020 began with an amazingly active January real estate market. We observed 733 single-family contracts for the month, which is 21% higher than the total from January 2019. We’ve been reporting on contract data monthly, using the same methodology, since 2009. This month’s deal count was the highest we’ve ever seen in any January, or February, or December, or November. Looks like we’re skipping the winter market this year. We also see from the data