After a pandemic-induced crash in spring real estate sales, brokers now report that the market has come roaring back.
May statistics for Cape Cod and the Islands, released on June 15, showed a 47-percent drop in sales of single-family homes from May 2019 and 45-percent drop in condo sales. But as restrictions on travel eased, “we’ve seen a flood of people coming to look at property,” said Lisa Bergeron of William Raveis Real Estate.
“Pandemic equals second-home buying frenzy,” said Kathleen Nagle of Kinlin Grover. “People are working from home, cooped up with their kids in cities, and they are like, ‘Get me out of here.’ Anything at the right price is selling. By June 1 this year I had done 90 percent of the business I did all last year.”
“The buyer pool has changed,” said Iskren Georgiev of Atlantic Bay Sotheby’s in Provincetown. “All of a sudden you have a totally new wave of people who maybe thought of doing this 10 or 20 years from now. Suddenly they are thinking, ‘I want to have access to nature in a less populated area.’ ” He said one newly listed house in the West End had seven showings lined up for the next day.
“It’s interesting how many second-home owners have come and stayed since March,” said Bergeron. “They say, ‘We’ve never spent so much time here.’ I think that’s really good for the community. I honestly think more people will come to live here year-round.”
“Demand for single-family homes is very strong in Provincetown and there has been limited inventory,” said Bob O’Malley of Beachfront Realty. “We are seeing houses priced over $2 million that had been on the market for a long time finally selling.”
Douglas Elliman, the luxury residential real estate broker, has moved aggressively into the Cape market.
“Now it’s more important than ever to have a Cape estate, a country home,” said Haley Cutter of Elliman’s Live in Luxury group. “The kids may not return to school in the fall. Buyers are saying, ‘We need somewhere we can go to spread out.’ ”
