Home Value Appreciation During Coronavirus Might Surprise People, Says Northpointe's Levesque

Home Value Appreciation During Coronavirus Might Surprise People, Says Northpointe's Levesque

Zach Levesque with Northpointe Bank appeared on GoLocal LIVE, where he talked about the recently released April real estate numbers — and how low inventory is contributing to higher median price sales. 

Levesque also touched upon low interest rates during the coronavirus crisis, and how that has impacted refinancing. 

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"Refinance applications are still very strong, primarily due to the fact that interest rates have gone down pretty aggressively because of the coronavirus pandemic," said Levesque. "I don’t want to make an exact forecast on what’s going to happen, but generally if unemployment numbers go up, which we’re expecting to continue to happen until we fully recover from this, the interest rate market should stay where it is presently."

Levesque also spoke to the most recent April numbers.

"There’s right around 5200 active listings [right now in Rhode Island], compared to 2019 — for April last year, it was a little over 6,400 listings. So the inventory is down which is not a big surprise, because fewer properties are coming to market, although you can list your property safely," he said. 

"Right now I think people are taking a step back — so we saw a 20% decline year over year in April for active listings. I think the active listings going down in April led to a higher median sale. So we’re seeing home appreciation and that might surprise people but it’s primarily due to the fact inventory levels are staying down," said Levesque. 

Levesque joins GoLocal LIVE on Tuesday mornings at 10 AM as part of a content partnership.