Moving and the Housing Market During COVID-19

Updates for Charlotte, North Carolina, residents:

Low interest rates in the Charlotte housing market due to COVID-19 have proved beneficial for buyers and sellers, virtual closings and house tours are expected and local moving companies are available for hire.

Mecklenburg county’s economist Michael Simmons told The Charlotte Observer April 22 of his prediction that buyers will not purchase homes during COVID-19 due to economic uncertainty. However, according to real estate agent Rachel Bottoms, Charlotte’s housing market has stayed fairly strong because home values are high enough for sellers to be satisfied, and low enough for buyers to be interested.

According to Bottoms, the low interest rates for housing have had a positive effect on the economy since they serve as a “wild card”.

“Charlotte is a sweet spot,” Bottoms wrote in an email. “Deals are still closing and people are still moving!”

Safe-distance practices in the form of technology and social media are carried out by real estate agents, moving companies and cleaning teams. Drive-through closings, virtual tours and online statements promising precautionary efforts against COVID-19 have continued to advance the moving process.

“Everyone is trying to figure out little ways to keep deals moving forward with little to no hiccups,” Bottoms wrote in an email. “It’s been tough.”

Though some counties still have stay-at-home regulations, moving companies have been allowed to operate based on COVID-19 government orders. Brad Webb, assistant operations manager at the Charlotte office of All My Sons Moving and Storage, said in The Charlotte Observer March 27 that some of his companies’ policies include sanitizing trucks day and night, asking clients to wash their hands and having workers wear gloves.

“In another step to help prevent the spread of the virus, Webb told The Charlotte Observer, the company is temporarily declining moves at retirement and assisted-living centers.”

Some families in the Charlotte area have chosen a DIY move over hiring a moving company. Heather Avery, a Charlotte resident who recently moved to a new neighborhood, said it was nice to know her stuff would be taken care of, but with stores closed, it was hard to buy necessary items for a new house and meet new neighbors.

“Nobody takes as good care of your stuff as you do, but it was exhausting and back-breaking work,” Avery said.

For other Charlotte residents looking to move themselves, local supply stores for moving and packaging that have remained open can be found throughout the Mecklenburg county area, Uptown and in the Pineville-Mathews region.