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What the COVID-19 era looks like to these Charlotte real estate agents

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For local residential real estate agents like Jack Gustafson, the Covid-19 pandemic couldn’t have hit at a worse time.

March, April, May and June are his “make-or-break months” of the year, a time when activity in the housing market has historically bustled. But the novel coronavirus outbreak, which spread into the Charlotte region in mid-March and quickly led to local and statewide orders that shut down many facets of the economy, changed all of that.

Business for Gustafson, an associate with Re/Max Executive, is off 30% to 40% this spring of what he expected. The silver lining? He’s still selling homes.

“I’ve sold almost everything I’ve put on the market. What I’m finding right now is that the market is actually really good. Houses are moving quickly right now because inventory is very low and the buyers that are out there looking are very motivated,” said Gustafson.

While a normal April would have generated five or six closings for Gustafson, three of his listings turned into sales last month. Two of those went under contract before Mecklenburg County’s stay-at-home order, which restricted real estate brokerage services, went into effect in March.

Read more here about what he and other brokers are seeing in the local housing market.