MarketNsight is pleased to announce that May 2020 pending new home sales are up 10% over May 2019 pending sales for the first week of the month. According to MarketNsight Principal John Hunt, pent-up demand is causing pending sales to increase year-over-year (YOY).

“We are in uncharted territory, and we really have been since the great recession,” Hunt said. “With all data in, April was only down 15% year-to-year, and the first week of May was flat year-to-year with a lag.

“Our forecast, accounting for the lag, is that the first week of May this year will be up 10% over the first week of May last year.”

As MarketNsight reported in early May 2020, the first two-and-a-half months of the year were so impressive that they compensated for the effects of COVID-19 (coronavirus) from the middle of March through the end of April. In fact, the first week of May is level with May 2019 even with a lag. Accounting for the delay, May 2020 will be up over May of last year.

MarketNsight reached out to numerous customers in its 26-city footprint to verify the trends in Atlanta. Most other Southeast cities seem to be performing better than Atlanta as its employment is so heavily tied to travel, hospitality and service.

Why is housing performing better than many predicted? Part of the answer is that Atlanta, and the Southeast, entered this crisis with historically low inventories of both new and resale homes.

MarketNSight is focused on helping home builders and developers make smart decisions related to purchasing land and pricing product. Its groundbreaking Feasibility Matrix® systemizes the decision-making process and creates a one-stop-shop for gauging new home community feasibility including ranking by builder and subdivision and developed lot and raw land sales.

To learn more or to schedule a demonstration, visit www.MarketNsight.com.