The term 'panic buying' has been thrown around quite a bit during the COVID-19 housing boom. Housing inventory is at record lows, and housing demand is at record highs. Economics 101 tells us that this is the recipe for a pricing shock -- according to data compiled by S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index, home prices in the United States have increased 12% from March 2020 through February 2021. This unprecedented spike in home prices is driven by record low interest rates and a rapid shift to a work-from-home economy that demands more rooms, more space.
We have all heard stories of listings on the MLS receiving dozens of offers, above asking price, sight unseen with no contingencies and going into contract in just a few days. We have also heard countless frustrated homebuyers lamenting about the fact that if they want to buy a house, they are going to be forced into a bidding war for a house that they would not have even considered purchasing pre-pandemic.