Coronavirus: Hinsdale Real Estate Will 'Slow To Halt'

HINSDALE, IL — John Bohnen, owner of Hinsdale's County Line Properties, described the housing market as "very different" now. For the time being, virtual tours of houses will likely gain favor, he said.

"Showings will slow down to nothing very soon. Real estate in the greater Hinsdale area will slow to a halt, and that will remain until we get to the other side of the epidemic," Bohnen said. "It isn't practical to be showing houses."

The housing market was looking better going into the spring, he said, but 2019 wasn't a particularly good year. That was because the federal government capped the SALT tax deduction for state and local taxes at $10,000. This action had a big effect on a town like Hinsdale, with its abundance of higher-priced properties, Bohnen said.

"For every property over $1 million, it got progressively harder to sell. Over $2 million was very, very hard," Bohnen said. "That was a direct effect of the SALT portion of tax reform."

Frank De Luca, broker owner of La Grange's Green Acres Realty, said business has been "pretty slow" lately. His firm is requesting that people wear masks and gloves during showings.

He said he hasn't received any new listings in recent days.

"People are putting a lot of things on hold. They're in a holding pattern," De Luca said.

As far as the long-term effects on the economy, he said, "We're way too new into it. The buyers may still be there, but they are concerned with their jobs now."

De Luca said he hadn't done any showings lately. "A lot of the sellers don't want people in their homes," he said.

In Elmhurst, real estate agent Karen Boyle said she has learned that if homebuyers are willing to look at houses now, they are serious, especially in light of the coronavirus. "If people are out looking, they want to buy," she said.

Boyle, an agent with Elmhurst's The Schiller Team, said she has done four house showings in the last 10 days. That's lower than usual, but an indication that the market is still moving, she said. Another sign, she said, is that one of her colleagues listed a property this week and quickly got four offers.

The crisis, Boyle said, also will likely cause some city dwellers to rethink "vertical living," where people live close to one another, easing the spread of viruses.

She said her job has become a lot different lately, with agents barred from holding open houses and showing homes with tenants.

"We have gloves and masks. We go ahead and open up everything. We ask people not to touch anything. Then we do a wipedown afterward," Boyle said.

She doesn't expect a big, long-term effect on housing prices. "You'll see people leaving the city. In the end, we'll be very busy," she said.

In Darien, Neringa Koller, managing broker of American Brokers Real Estate, said her business is seeing a slowdown. Agents have no problem showing empty houses, she said, but occupied ones have been difficult.

"We have to make arrangements with the sellers. It's more work for us. We're trying to do our best," said Koller, who works with many Eastern European clients.

Of her 10 listings, she said, only one seller has stopped showings during the pandemic.

The difference between now and the 2008 economic crash is that people have more savings this time, Koller said. Still, she said, lending is already becoming more difficult, with lenders requesting higher credit scores and down payments. "It's going to be challenging," she said.

Read more:

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