COVID-19 and Housing Market Effects : Evidence from U.S. Shutdown Orders

This paper presents a first view on the effects of COVID-19 and subsequent shutdown and re-opening orders on residential real estate markets. We use micro-level data on property transactions from a large number of multiple listing services and find moderate aggregate pricing effects in the shutdown or re-opening periods. We also document a significant decrease in sales in the shutdown and re-opening periods. Moreover, we show that prices in states with shutdown orders decrease with increases in the COVID-19 contagion rate. Our findings imply that the statistical value of avoiding a COVID-19 related death is at least $1.15 million