Home prices

Potential sales last month rose compared with April as homes became more affordable due to low mortgage rates.

Prices have continued to rise, although the pandemic closures have slowed that down: The region's median sales price last month was $257,048, up 1.6% from May 2019, according to Georgia MLS.

The coronavirus put a dent in May's home sales and inventory, but some indicators offer hope for a turnaround on the horizon.

The number of existing, single-family home sales that closed last month fell 51.1% compared with the same month last year and the median price dropped 2.5%, according to the California Association of Realtors.

The report by Unison also advised investors to focus on "diversified residential real estate" over traditional retail and office spaces.

The number of homes sold in Central Florida sunk dramatically in May, an indication of the anxieties swirling around Orlando's previously booming market and the wide-reaching effects of the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

In the thick of the pandemic in Greater Hartford, home sales took it on the chin, falling nearly 13% in May, compared with a year ago, but sale prices held their own, rising slightly.

During a seven-day period earlier this month, there were 1,740 new home listings and 270 listings coming back on the market, and 2,065 pending sales, according to the Greater Metropolitan Association of Realtors.

A Clever Real Estate survey found a significant share of new borrowers are not making their full payment.

Anyone who has been watching real estate in Palm Beach, Fla., over the past several weeks has seen the number of new contracts — and closed sales — attest to the remarkable vibrancy of the market in chaotic times.