InTouch with Southern Kentucky July 2020 | Page 24

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Home is where the Heart is
Local rural-living homes are selling well during the Coronavirus Pandemic
BY RAY HUNTER
CJ FEATURE WRITER
Buying or selling a home
can be a stressful situation
in the best of times.
Add to that a global
pandemic, soaring unemployment
rates, and state-mandated
business closings, most people
would expect home sales to be
down.
However, according to real estate
agents in Somerset, that is hardly
the case.
Kathy Sears is the Key Associate
Manager for Century 21 Advantage
Realty. She said, “I’ve been doing
this for 25 years, and I’ve never seen
anything like it.”
Sears said that negative effects on
the economy are usually felt in the
housing market first. Fortunately,
local home sales have increased
despite the uncertainty and
upheaval.
“We are low on inventory for the
first time in years,” she said.
Matt Ford, the Managing Broker at
Weichart Realtors, agreed, calling
their inventory “extremely low.”
“Our housing market has soared
through all of this, which I would
not have bet on,” Ford said.
Both agents indicated that falling
mortgage interest rates in February
most likely had a positive effect on
the booming housing market in the
community.
Sears said, “Thankfully, we were
already set up for a good market,
but COVID-19 hasn’t affected the
Lake Cumberland area like you
would think.”
Sears said there are probably
several contributing factors to the
increase in home sales.
“Perhaps people have more
time to think about purchasing a
home during the healthy-at-home
order,” she said. “Or maybe the
unemployment insurance and
stimulus package give people more
confident down payment money.”
Ford thinks that many people
in bigger cities want to relocate
to more rural areas due to the
coronavirus outbreak.
“In comparison to other places,
we have a lot of things going for us:
the lake, the tight-knit community,
and the business opportunities.”
24 • In Touch with Southern Kentucky July 2020