The “Real Estate News” tab in Realtor.com is a reliable source for information that real estate followers—especially active St. Cloud home buyers and sellers—can turn to for the latest takes on real estate market activity. Since it comes from the National Association of Realtors^®, it’s not where you’d turn to for a completely impartial view—nonetheless, the underlying information it dispenses is dependably accurate.

Since that’s the case, the leading article from a couple of weeks back had been discomfiting. “Gallup: Only 50% of Americans Believe It’s a Good Time to Buy a Home” isn’t exactly supportive for anyone who’s been weighing the pros and cons of a real estate purchase right now. The basis for the piece was, indeed, slightly unnerving. A Gallup poll of a thousand Americans had half of them nixing the idea. That’s an all-time low—the weakest result since the 1970s when Gallup began measuring homebuying sentiment.

There is little doubt that the result was due to the dislocations stemming from the pandemic. After all, after the national emergency was declared, it monopolized the nation’s attention for months.

An interesting detail was the finding that homeowners seemed more pessimistic than renters, with homeowner sentiment dropping 16% vs. only 4% for renters. But that might have been foreseeable since the value of owning and controlling your own home might be more highly valued by those who aspire to it—especially during a dramatically unpredictable period like the one St. Cloud has just experienced. Homeowners themselves may be inclined to take for granted the peace of mind their title provides.

At any rate, by the end of last week, the “Real Estate News” lead story began to reflect the rays of optimism spawned by the start of a gradual lifting of public restrictions—and the expectation of a more normal summer. “Despite the Coronavirus, Home Prices are Still Rising” reflected not only stability—but the presence of a substantial minority of Americans who may have believed all along that it IS a good time to buy a house. They might be trusting the sage, age-old counsel that often accompanies the “buy low, sell high” maxim: namely, “buy when everyone else won’t.”

In this case, with mortgage interest rates still offering exceptional bargain financing, St. Cloud home buyers and sellers might take advantage of some rare opportunities. Call me!

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