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SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – The hot Bay Area housing market shows no signs of slowing down, even amid a global pandemic.
In fact, some believe COVID-19 has helped them with their home purchase, most notably Alexander Cremin.
He bought his condo in Campbell last year, but was initially hesitant to make a major purchase at the start of the pandemic, especially when there were a lot of unknowns.
“I thought it was all going to fall apart once the pandemic hit and maybe it would be cheaper,” Cremin said.
When he saw how much interest rates had fallen for home loans during the pandemic, he said he decided to pull the trigger.
“Yeah, actually, I got to come home a bit more than I originally planned,” he told KPIX 5. “I’m very happy. Everything was a bit in my favor. So I went ahead and found a great place.
Fuxi Cai also took advantage of low interest rates and bought a townhouse in Sunnyvale this summer.
He said he was surprised to see so many people showing up at open doors even during the pandemic.
“Yeah, pretty surprised, we thought we were just the first, you know, the brave,” Cai said.
Sophie Lin, real estate agent for Keller Williams Realty, Inc., said after a short hiatus at the first shelter-in-place, home sales not only picked up but stayed that way. Lin said his company posted a record of transactions last July.
“In the third and fourth quarter of 2020 nothing slowed down, then we went straight to 2021, the first quarter blew us away,” Lin said. “Real estate is still doing very well, we are very lucky in the Bay Area.”
When the pandemic began, people flocked to the Bay Area in droves for cheaper homes, but Lin said those days are long gone.
Not only has the real estate market rebounded, but the rental market as well. Lin said prices for single-family homes for rent have reached pre-pandemic levels after homeowners were forced to cut them last year.
“People still want to live in the Bay Area,” Lin said.
Cai said buying a home during the pandemic was the right decision. He has already seen the value of his house increase in just two months.
