El Paso realtors say home sales are now booming in the Borderland

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The spread of Covid-19 has forced many to stay home, and the economic uncertainty of the pandemic has lead to many saving money. These factors have impacted businesses across the country.

Real estate has not been immune to the impacts of the pandemic either. The National Association of Realtors found that sales of existing homes plunged 17.8% from March to April.

Tessa Judge listed her El Paso home of five years in May. She was excited to build a new home with her family in a new neighborhood. They did not assume the hard part would be selling their old one.

"We were feeling very excited and hopeful," Judge said. "This is a good neighborhood, a good house, beautiful view."

As the impact of the pandemic worsened, plans changed.

"People started getting worried about their future, started worried about investments," she said. "People's moving plans changed."

When they listed the home, Judge noticed some changes in the selling process.

"The realtors were coming in and doing FaceTime walkthroughs with clients," she said. "The government's telling you 'stay home, don't go anywhere' and you're coming into people's houses... clients were hesitant to come look at a house. I think it's very difficult to buy a house you haven't stepped foot in."

Judge said selling a home during this time has been difficult to say the least. Some experts disagree.

"We're kind of looking at a boom in housing prices and in real estate, at least on the residential side in El Paso," said Erik Devos, an associate dean at UTEP in the College of Business Administration.

Devos said the pandemic initially did cause a lull in El Paso real estate sales, but the slump did not stick.

"If you were in the market for buying a house the first week or two, you stayed home," he said. "But then a week or two, that changed. It was really super quick."

Devos credits low interest rates, little supply and not as much economic uncertainty as many expected.

The surge is not unique to El Paso. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports home mortgage applications are up 21% compared to this time last year.

"We do not know the exact time that those interest rates are actually are going to stay," said Albert Lujan, a realtor who sells homes in the Borderland. "So I believe it goes back to the buyers thinking, you know, 'let's do it now before they could change.'"

Lujan's business has been booming during the last few months.

"Buyers right now are fighting through multiple offers, which is incredible," Lujan said. "I would say this is the perfect time for someone that's really wanting to sell their home, to do it right now."

Devos said sellers need to adapt to a changing market, as the selling process moves online. He also adds that buyers are becoming more educated than ever, and are learning more about properties before they even step inside.

As for Judge, she's holding out hope that despite the uncertainty, the right buyer will come along.

"There's a little bit of a worried factor," she said, "but you just keep going."