When the pandemic hit in March 2020, the Long Island real estate market, along with many other industries, came to a screeching halt. Brokers in New York could no longer show properties — but those in Connecticut could.
“We had people who wanted to buy homes and we weren’t allowed to have in-person showings,” said Deirdre O’Connell, CEO of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty. “We pivoted to virtual showings.”
Realtors sold many houses sight unseen as demand soared, and when they were allowed to do in-person showings again in late June 2020, business boomed.
The past year has been topsy-turvy, with some industries on a roll and many such as restaurants struggling. But as the economy reopens, rising job numbers and lower unemployment show a region making a comeback across many industries.
Restrictions have loosened although variants remain, but the economy is recovering, as rising cost of living hits residents and companies sort out whether and how to blend remote and in-person work.
Unemployment in both Nassau and Suffolk rose to 12.9 percent in June 2020, falling to 5 percent by this June, well below the 6.1 percent national average.
The fall likely will bring a shift from outdoors back indoors, which Reynolds said likely will bring more pressure related to the pandemic.
“I would expect September is going to be really challenging,” he said. “The uncertainty of where Covid is going has added a lot of stress.”
Source: Claude Solnik from The Long Island Press