Impact of COVID-19 on the Bainbridge Island Real Estate Market

Friday, April 3, 2020

First and foremost, we at Windermere are here for you remotely, with a commitment to get through this together. Governor Inslee's STAY HOME, STAY HEALTHY proclamation means real estate activities LIMITED. 

The protocols that must be followed for the permitted in-person activities include:

• In-person activities must be by appointment only;
• No more than two people, including the broker, may be at the property at any one time; and
• Those two persons must strictly follow social distancing guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) by remaining at least six feet apart at all times.

The revisions to the Order are limited to allow the following in-person activities, provided the above protocols are followed:

• Previews and showings of listings by appointment only;
• Listing presentations, photography, and creating virtual tours for new listings [Note: professional photographers are not considered “essential,” thus all photos must be taken by the broker or seller];
• Inspections for pending transactions;
• Appraisals for pending transactions;
• Buyer “walk-throughs” for pending transactions prior to closing; and
• Providing keys to buyers at closing.

7-DAY UPDATE

The great news is despite having a 3-day complete shut down of in-person real estate services (before Gov. Inslee modified the orders), we still saw 10 homes reach agreement between buyer and seller. This leaves me with a great deal of optimism about the overall sentiment of our niche market.

STATISTICS

• In the last 7 days:
  • 10 new listings
  • 10 listings go pending
  • 10 homes SOLD close to their asking prices

PULSE

• Stagers and photographers are now considered essential enough to be back at work, so preparation for listing a home has those services back in play.
• Over the last week, two of the homes that went into contract were priced at $1.4M and $2.2M, showing that even the high end homes have buyers confident enough in this market to make purchases.

We will get through this, together.

Life goes on; babies will be born, relocations will happen, and life’s circumstances will still require some folks to move over the next few months. The real estate market on Bainbridge is going to move forward.

If life's circumstances are such that you need to buy or sell property, know that I’m here with my silver-lining mindset, empathic approach and fact-based drive to help you ease the pain points you may be facing.  I’m quick to respond and am just a phone call or a video chat away to help you achieve your goals.

COVID-19 Archives

• March 27th