Anxiety About the End of Coronavirus Lockdown is More Common than You Think

With everyone else stuck at home, there's no FOMO to lure you out of bed for a Sunday brunch when you'd really rather sleep in.

Without a chatty co-worker at the desk next to you, your productivity is way up — and honestly, the WFH set-up is more than functional. As certain states begin to emerge from coronavirus lockdown, some people are anxious as they prepare for post-quarantine life, after finding that a quieter, slower pace at home is really working for them.

Claire, 32, is struggling with conflicting feelings of grief and joy regarding re-entry. "The thought of the world opening back up again is giving me a lot of relief, but also anxiety — it feels like I'm being forced out of this sacred nest that we’ve created here where there are no social obligations or expectations, just time to be together," she tells Bustle. She adds that post-quarantine, she'll need an adjustment period before she is ready to put anything on her calendar again.

Of course, no one wants coronavirus to keep raging across the country, necessitating continued lockdowns. But after two months in quarantine, people are starting to realize that their lifestyle and values are more aligned than ever.

Not everyone has found quarantine life to be "enlightening," and it has "exacerbated if not caused mental health symptoms" in many, Fleck says. But for those who find themselves anxious about returning to their normal lives, Fleck points to the psychological benefits of focusing on the present and learning to accept your life as it is, without judgment. "Solitude and mindfulness can be antidotes for FOMO and dis-ease," she says. These practices, Fleck adds, can temper our innate drive to keep up with what we see on Instagram.

Although forced isolation might make it easy to slow down, it's not the only way to practice mindfulness. You don't need to be in the middle of a pandemic in order to carve out time to connect with loved ones or to relax at home. "For those who find themselves reluctant to return to the unrealistic demands and sensory overload that seem to define normal life at times, my advice is simple: don't." Instead, Fleck suggests approaching post-lockdown life with intention. Pledge to turn down work-week plans or to spend weekends alone. Keep cooking or going on long walks or whatever is giving you peace right now. And as we slowly move back towards our old lives, it's important to remember that nothing will be the same. "Allow yourself to be changed by the changes you've endured," Fleck adds.

To read the full article, go to Bustle.

Related Links

• Create a more private backyard with landscaping

• New home listings were nearly cut in half in April nationwide

• Could COVID-19 become a driving force of Millennial homeownership?

Create a More Private Backyard with Landscaping

Landscaping Tips for More Privacy

Spending time outdoors in your own yard is one of the best parts of home ownership for many. But prying eyes from neighbors, passing cars, or pedestrians can feel like an intrusion to your personal space. To shield your yard from potential onlookers, Timothy Johnson with LawnStarter offers advice about landscaping for more privacy.

When thinking about options for privacy both within and around your property, you have more choices than just using fencing. While there isn’t anything wrong with fences, they can be expensive and difficult to maintain. According to LawnStarter, a great alternative to fences is to use is foliage and shrubs as a living privacy screen.

Evaluate why you want a privacy screen

When deciding on a living privacy screen, the first thing to do is to figure out is what it is that you want to shield from view. Is there a neighbor with a messy yard? Do you want a secluded spot for some privacy and relaxation? If you know what the reasons are for your selection of a living privacy screen, then you can make educated choices when buying your plants, shrubs or trees. For example, a privet shrub will grow densely and form a boundary that’s formal in appearance. If you decide to go with evergreens, they can reach higher in height than a legal fence. If you have a space issue, shrubs which are smaller and trees which you prune to the desired heights are also an option.

A mixed variety of shrubs, trees, and plants will give you the most attractive living fence. You can, in addition, put up a trellis or latticework for plants that will grow up and cover it. This is an excellent choice for an open porch, or a garden area with benches.

Another thing to consider when selecting your choices is what kind of maintenance you’re willing to perform. Some evergreens and hedges need to be shaped and pruned often. Other shrubs and perennial plants won’t need as much work to keep them looking nice. Consider what you’re willing to care for in trimming and pruning before you plant your living fence.

Plant what will grow

Check the USDA Hardiness Zone for your area!

Some plant suggestions

Here are some plants, shrubs and trees to consider:

• Alleghany viburnum: This shrub, with its large leathery leaves, will grow 8-10 feet tall and wide. The leaves stay on throughout the winter until new growth pushes through in the spring. The dense shrub will shield unwanted views nicely. It is versatile, as it grows in sun to part shade.

• Apache Plume: This shrub grows to 4-6 feet tall and wide, is xeric, and requires very little care once it likes where it’s planted. The plumes have a purple tint for added color. It mixes well with other shrubs, trees, and plants and grows in sun to part shade.

• Fernbush: This shrub will grow 3-5 feet tall and wide and has aromatic leaves. It’s xeric, and bees love it. The shrub will grow in part shade or sun, and in sand or clay.

• Hardy Pampa Grass: This ornamental grass will grow 8-10 feet high and 4-6 feet wide. It likes sun, is drought tolerant, fast growing, easy to care for, and deer resistant. It will attract butterflies and birds.

• Hedge Cotoneaster: This shrub is also known as the Peking Cotoneaster and grows 6-8 feet tall and 5-8 feet wide. The foliage is dark green with small pink spring flowers, followed by black fruit. It makes a high screen and will grow in alkaline soil, partial sun, and full sun.

• Skyrocket® Oak: This oak grows in a uniformly narrow shape with a height of 40-45 feet and width of 12-15 feet. It grows in alkaline soil. Use this oak as a windbreak, or a natural fence when planted close together.

These are just a few of the many selections that there are to grow a privacy screen. With all the plants, trees and shrubs available; you are sure to find the perfect one for you. The question is–would you plant a living privacy screen?

Additional References:

• 5 Plants that Provide Privacy Along a Fence

Weekly mortgage applications show real recovery in homebuying, as interest rates set another record low

Homebuyers appear to be heading slowly back into the market, as the coronavirus-stricken economy begins to reopen.

Key points from CNBC:

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to a record 3.40% from 3.43%.

• Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose for the third straight week, up 7% compared with a week earlier.

• Refinance applications decreased 2% for the week but were 210% higher than a year ago, when rates were over a full percentage point higher. 

Homebuyers appear to be heading slowly back into the market, as the coronavirus-stricken economy begins to reopen.

Total mortgage application volume rose 0.1% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. The gain was driven entirely by buyers.

Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose for the third straight week, up 7% from a week earlier. Purchase volume was still 19% lower annually, but that annual loss is shrinking by the week. Just three weeks ago, purchase volume was down 35% annually. Demand last week was led by strong growth in Arizona, Texas and California.

Homebuyers are coming back

Buyers are responding to incredibly low interest rates as well as to new technology and processes that allow them to house-hunt from afar. Agents are offering virtual showings or live tours over apps like Facetime or Zoom. For empty homes, they’re also allowing do-it-yourself tours, using high-tech lock-boxes that buyers can access from their smartphones. 

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances of up to $510,400 fell to 3.40% from 3.43%. The new rate is a record low for the weekly survey, which began in 1990. Points decreased to 0.30 from 0.34, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment.

Lower rates are not boosting refinance volume. Those applications decreased 2% for the week but were 210% higher than one year ago, when rates were over a full percentage point higher. 

“Despite lower rates, refinance applications dropped, as many lenders are offering higher rates for refinances than for purchase loans, and others are suspending the availability of cash-out refinance loans because of their inability to sell them to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 70% of total applications from 71.6 % the previous week.

Thinking you should probably figure out how to tackle home ownership or make that move you’ve been thinking about? We’re here for you.

Search for Homes in Colorado

Search for Homes in Oklahoma

Average mortgage rate is 3 basis points from all-time low

Freddie Mac's average rate is second-lowest on record, but credit standards are tighter

The average U.S. rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage ticked up to 3.26% this week, the second-lowest ever recorded by Freddie Mac and three basis points away from the all-time low set last week.

“Mortgage rates stayed at or near record lows for the fifth straight week and homeowners are taking advantage with refinance activity remaining high,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

Khater predicts refinancing will reach a seven-year high of $1.26 trillion this year as homeowners who still have jobs scramble to lock in the low rates and reduce their monthly payments.

That would put 2020 refi volume about 15% higher than the $1.1 trillion of refis in 2019 and more than double the $537 billion of volume in 2018.

Mortgage rates have inched a few basis points higher this week as mortgage investors weigh the danger of skyrocketing unemployment.

Most economists expect Friday’s unemployment report to show the rate more than tripled in April to about 16%, an all-time high, according to the average estimate in a poll by Trading Economics.

Lenders have tightened standards because of the instability in the economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. An index measuring the availability of credit tumbled 12% in April to its lowest level in five years, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a Thursday report.

“The abrupt weakening of the economy and job market – and the uncertainty in the outlook – drove credit availability down in April for the second consecutive month,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting.

Freddie Mac’s report also reported changes in the average rate for two other types of home loans on Thursday. The average 15-year fixed rate averaged 2.73%, down from 2.77% last week.

The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.17%, up from last week’s rate of 3.14%.

Thinking you should probably figure out how to tackle home ownership or make that move you’ve been thinking about? We’re here for you.

New home listings in April were nearly cut in half nationwide

As stay-at-home orders increased across the nation last month, it showed in the lack of homes for sale.

New listings fell 44.1% in April, as well as asking prices flattening and homes staying on the market longer, according to a new report from realtor.com,

While it’s worth noting that April is the first full month of data showing the impact from the pandemic, this decrease is only worsening the already struggling housing inventory.

As the report says, the Northeast was hit hardest by the pandemic and also saw the greatest decline in new listings – a whopping 59.4%.

The rest of the U.S. didn’t stray too far off, as the Midwest saw another 49.5% decline, a 44.1% decline in the West and a 31.4% decline in the south.

“The good momentum we saw at the start of the year has helped to somewhat insulate the housing market from the coronavirus’ negative impact on buyer and seller confidence across the U.S.,” said realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “Although we saw sharp drops in new listings, an increase in the time it takes to sell a home and a flattening of prices in April, May is likely to see some of these metrics worsen.”

This makes the total number of homes for sale across the U.S. down 15.3% year over year, with April’s drop in inventory amounting to a 189,000 loss of listings compared to this time last year.

According to realtor.com, within the 50 largest U.S. metros, inventory declined 16% year over year with the biggest declines seen in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin metro (down 46.1%); Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware-Maryland metro (down 38.7%); and Providence-Warwick, Rhode Island-Massachusetts metro (down 29.3%).

Meanwhile, for the homes that were on the market, they sold four days slower than in April 2019, selling in an average of 62 days. Realtor.com predicts it will only get longer.

During the week ending on April 25, homes spent an average of nine days longer on the market than in the same week the year prior. Metros with the greatest increase in days on market were seen in Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, New York (up 24 days); Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan (up 22 days); and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (up 15 days).

Asking prices have remained stagnant, as the national median listing price only grew 0.6% year over year to $320,000, while March saw a price growth rate of 3.8%.

All of the nation’s most expensive large metros have seen newly listed homes drop by 40% or more. Some lower-priced large metros have seen large declines in newly listed homes, but others have seen much more moderate reductions. Of the nation’s 50 largest metros, 47 saw prices decelerate compared to March.

The most dramatic price declines were seen in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (down 5.7%); Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington (down 4.5%); and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois-Indiana.-Wisconsin (down 4.4%).

If you are wondering how the pandemic might be impacting your property’s value, your neighborhood, or the Real Estate market in general, we are happy to provide more specific information.

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

Search for Homes in Colorado

Search for Homes in Oklahoma