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High-end home listings down but not out — and searches are up

Buyers see an opportunity to sell — even without the trappings of in-person showings

Listings for luxury homes are down, but Zillow traffic is up, as brokers find captive audience (Credit: Pixabay)
Listings for luxury homes are down, but Zillow traffic is up, as brokers find captive audience (Credit: Pixabay)

 

Wealthy sellers are continuing to list their properties, and brokers are making the most of a captive audience.

To sweeten high-end virtual tours, at least one Los Angeles brokerage is sending attendees boutique gift packets to accompany their experience, bringing them as close to the atmosphere as they can get, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Since the coronavirus outbreak, many sellers have pulled their listings, blaming economic uncertainty and restrictions on in-person home showings. Between March 1 and April 22, some 642 homes above $10 million were listed, Zillow told the Journal, 25 percent fewer than in the same time period last year.

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Others, however, have plunged in — out of necessity or as a strategic play.

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And there are views to be had: Traffic on Zillow’s listings are up 18 percent this year through April 15 over the same period last year with millions of Americans confined to their homes, with ample time for internet browsing.

Traffic in Los Angeles jumped 32 percent in the seven days ending April 15 versus the same week in 2019. [WSJ] — Sylvia Varnham O’Regan

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Coronavirus Real EstateLuxury Real Estate