How buying and selling homes have changed in the COVID era

Home sales in central Indiana have tumbled since the coronavirus crisis told hold in March. Home showings have cratered. The number of owners deciding to list their homes for sale has slumped well below average. That said, people are still buying and selling homes in central Indiana, even as public officials ask us to severely limit personal contact and any non-essential travel outside the home.

How are homes still moving? Good real estate agents are nothing if not entrepreneurial, and they’ve created some clever workarounds. What used to be a face-to-face, high-touch business has gone digital. Some owners are taking a more active role in marketing. Some closings now have more in common with the drive-through window at Portillo’s than a suit-and-tie office meeting.  

To help explain these abrupt strategic maneuvers and what it will take to get the market back on track, IBJ Podcast host Mason King interviewed two of the best-connected people in the local real estate market: Shelley Specchio, CEO of MIBOR, and Jim Litten, president of F.C. Tucker Co. Inc.

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by the law firm Krieg DeVault.