NEW ORLEANS – The coronavirus crisis has affected many jobs, lives and homes. This pandemic has even impacted the real estate market in and around the city. 

“When this hit, everything had to pause. People were fearful of putting their houses on the market. Some buyers were fearful of going to see homes,” Team Leader of Keller Williams Realty, Stan Adamcewicz told us this afternoon. 

The crisis has impacted the market by at least 30% in the New Orleans area. The noticeable drop began in March. “Right now, our for sales houses that are hitting the market are down 13.8%. Our under contract is down 29.7% and sold’s are down 14.3[%].”

But Adamcewicz says, the real estate market has been and will continue to pick up this month thanks to interested buyers and sellers following safety procedures.

“The showings are still taken place,” the Team Leader shared. “Open houses have opened back up and we’ve gone digital with with a lot of things.”

The Airbnb business has also been impacted, coming to almost a standstill in the city. 
“Major, major, major hit. We are a tourism city and nobody is traveling you may go from being fully booked to one booking a month” Realtor and Investor, Cherrian Levy told WGNO. 

On the bright side, both realtors say the interest rate to buy a home is at an all-time low. Some, as low as 2.7% which is why they believe now is the time to buy a home. “We’ve seen rates like this- never! So the consumer has more buying power. It’s getting them off the fence and it’s getting them out there looking at homes,” Adamcewicz told WGNO.

Adamcewicz also says, the real estate market may return close-to-normal by this August.