A Look at the First Quarter of 2019 vs 2020

You can’t turn on a television or read any news without hearing the latest on the fight against Covid-19. The Keys have been quite successful in keeping our number of infections down, thanks in part to a roadblock barring non-residents and non-property owners from entering the county. But what impact has it had on the local real estate market?

At first glance, it appears that the real estate market remained fairly unscathed, with closings for each quarter being relatively the same in the first quarters of 2019 and 2020.

However, when comparing at the number of closings that occurred in the first quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2020, it’s important to consider when the properties actually went under contract, instead of the actual closing date.  Many of the properties that are closing now were under contract before the Coronavirus lockdown of the Florida Keys, and much of the rest of the country as well.

I compared the number of contracts being written and fully executed during the first quarter of each period for properties that did close. Normally I do these stats based on closings alone, but considering the unique circumstances of working under a global pandemic, I opted to use dates when properties actually went under contract.

Keyswide Numbers 2019:

Waterfront Single Family Homes: 190
Non-Waterfront Single Family Homes: 184
Condominiums: 59

Keyswide Numbers 2020:

Waterfront Single Family Homes: 158
Non-Waterfront Single Family Homes: 153
Condominiums: 40


These numbers show that while there are still buyers out there looking at property, fewer of them are actually writing offers and going to contract and closing. Hopefully the market will correct itself, as it usually does, in the second and third quarters of the year.